Long Overdue, cont.

October's Second Saturday was rained out and as a result, cancelled. However, this did not dampen our resolve to do something good for the city in that month. Instead, on October 19, one week after our original plan to do a cleanup, we helped do a groundbreaking day for a new community garden and public space in Cadwalader Place neighborhood in the West Ward.

November's Second Saturday took place on November 9 at an old nameless (as far as I know) rail trail which runs between Ewing and Trenton. As such, we worked with member of the Ewing Green Team to bring out a variety of TCNJ students, Ewing high school Robotics Team members, and other volunteers to clean the old trail of fallen limbs, overgrown brush and dumped litter. It was a great Autumn day to be in to be the woods and the weather was fantastic. Thanks to all the volunteers who came out for the day!

Check out Ewing Green Team's photo album to see some highlights from the day!

Long Overdue

As I've been trying to beef up the viewership of the Trenton Cities of Service Facebook page, I have obviously neglected this blog. So to catch up, I have a few pictures to post from the past few months of service projects that we have had a hand in. For a recap of our work on September 11 Day of Service, we worked with central and north Jersey AmeriCorps members and students from TCNJ's International House to beautify downtown Trenton through various projects.




9/11 Day of Service volunteers

Assisted by leaders from Isles, Trenton Downtown Association, and SAGE Coalition, volunteers spent their morning planting fall plants, building a fence, installing signs, and doing general cleanup work along the D&R Canal Trail.

Good morning Trentonians!

Trenton Cities of Service, in coordination with the Bonner Center and other organizations, will be holding two upcoming service events in Trenton in the weeks to come. On September 11, full-time volunteers in the Bonner AmeriCorps program will be participating in the 9/11 National Day of Service to help SAGE Coalition, Isles, and Trenton Downtown Association with various projects including posting new signs along the D&R Canal Path, planting city planters, and preparing for SAGE's "Windows of Soul 2" community arts project.

The other project is still in the works but, if it happens, will take place this Saturday, September 7 and will mostly consist of The College of New Jersey Bonner Scholars working with SAGE Coalition and Trenton Downtown Association. More details on that event are still coming.

Community Muralist Will "Kasso" Condry

 

There's a new video covering the work of one of Trenton's most prominent artists, Will Kasso. Not only is Kasso a great muralist, he's also well-versed in all things Trenton. Below is just a preview. If you want to see the full video, click here.

 

 

 

Gardening with Gandhi on East Hanover Street

On Saturday, July 13, Trenton Cities of Service teamed up with SAGE Coalition to do our monthly Second Saturday of Service event at the constantly developing Gandhi Garden. One year ago, the Gandhi Garden was like much of the rest of that section of the street, an empty lot. But since SAGE Coalition took over the property, the lot has transformed into an urban oasis of green and creativity and a nice compliment to SAGE's 219 Gallery, next-door. Since the start of 2013, SAGE has been hosting regular gatherings to help complete the concept of the Gandhi Garden, which is aptly named since there is a large portrait mural of the Mahatma, himself in the background of the lot. Our Second Saturday of Service event offered a capstone service day for this series to do some of the last large projects which still needed to be done including planting shrubs, creating a new tire garden, and moving a massive pile of dirt at the front of the property.

Volunteers for the event gathered from around the city and notably included youth from the county probation office who needed community service hours. It was good to interact with this new group and I am looking forward to working with them in the future to help provide hours for the youth under their supervision. In general, I was very satisfied with this project and I think the volunteers had a good time too.

 

 

Other videos can be found here!

Gardening with Gandhi, July 13!!

It's been far too long since this blog has been updated. I'd like to post about two things relevant to the work of Trenton Cities of Service. First and most importantly, our Second Saturday of Service in July will be held at SAGE Coalition's Gandhi Garden.

The Gandhi Garden is a mix between a garden, art gallery, venue, and public park. It is located at 223 East Hanover St, Trenton, next to the SAGE headquarters Studios 219. The space was an overgrown lot on East Hanover St. before SAGE moved in next door last year. The project has made significant leaps toward completion through various service days and ongoing work there. We are organizing a service day for SAGE Coalition to both help contribute to the project and to increase visibility of the Gandhi Garden as an asset to the wider community and downtown Trenton.

We really hope to see you there. Please share the event flyer and facebook page.

And second, our work with CARE Trenton to clean up South Clinton Avenue was documented by 2 volunteers for Art All Night. They posted a short video about our effort to clean up the street on YouTube. That event attracted volunteers from two churches, civic associations, and some regulars from CARE Trenton events. You can see the video about the project below.



 

 

 

 



Information about our project partnership in June. We'd like to really make this a community-wide effort to prepare for Art All Night. Please share with everyone who would be interested in this event!