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!

The Island's Sense of Place

You're looking at the smiling faces of about one third of our volunteer group from Saturday. Volunteers from A Better Way, Foundation Academy, The Island Civic Association, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters, arrived in Trenton's beautiful Stacy Park, along the Delaware River at 9:00am on Saturday morning. The park had been ravaged by numerous floods and most of all, Hurricane Sandy, which littered branches and sticks throughout the tree-lined park. As always, I asked our co-organizer (the president of the Island Civic Association) to explain a bit about the history of the park. Bernard spoke about how the pond in the middle of the park was used as a log repository when logging was a large industry in the northern regions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the nineteenth century. The aptly named "Log Basin" was tied in with the adjacent Delaware Rivers and nearby canal systems to form the transportation network which took raw materials from the north down to the developing areas around Philadelphia, including Trenton. At the northern reach of the park, there stands an old metal structure with a large cable and pulleyss attached to it. This was apparently part of a ferry which helped move Scout troops and others across the river to an island which contained a campsite.

What struck me most about this place was its feeling of time-invested landscaping and of friendly community. Almost every house on Riverside Drive in The Island neighborhood has large, prolific, old gardens full of classy flowers and greenery. Beyond that, we could see that some residents even forayed their gardening habits into city-owned land along the Delaware. As we walked up the street looking for litter and debris, one neighbor noticed our presence and what we were doing and immediately offered us some much-appreciated water. He explained how thankful he and the rest of the community was for the work we were doing for the neighborhood, and mentioned that he was responsible for some the gardening on the public land across the street. The experience showed me the sense of place and community which is what makes the Island so great.

Announcing our Saturday of Service for May:

Bring your boots if you have them. At least some of us will be wading into the shallows of the Log Basin to clean out some branches, logs, debris, and litter.

IN OTHER NEWS:

After discussions with the mentoring groups about service projects for the month of June, we have decided to support CARE Trenton's efforts to clean up and landscape the neighborhood around Roebling Market in preparation for Art All Night. The event is set to take place on June 1 at 9:00am. More on that effort and Art All Night in another post.

Delaware & Raritan Spring Cleanup

Last Saturday, April 13, marked our second Second Saturday of Service at the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail where it runs through the West Ward of Trenton. The area that volunteers and staff from D&R Canal Commission helped clean was somewhere on the line between the property of Lighthouse Outreach Ministry and D&R Canal park property, but that wasn't really a problem to us. We all agreed that they trash and debris that had been accumulating there for likely the past decade had to go. It was a blight on the neighborhood and the park and I am glad to say that we finished the project in the allotted 3 hours for that day.

Of course, many of the projects that our group does are similar to this one. Cleaning up after the ravages of neglect in a city that is largely written off and forgotten by the rest of New Jersey is our job. By coming out to these events and helping to maintain the resources that our city has, we show our hope for revitalization of community engagement and volunteerism in our city. Furthermore, we show that Trenton is capable of getting things done in the face of prevalent negativity and disparity.
As part of this task, we must work on making our positive changes to the community permanent by helping neighborhoods and vested interests take responsibility for their respective areas of the city to make this upkeep more permanent. 

 

Service opportunities and other happenings this weekend:

Saturday, April 20: Souperfest: TASK's 30th Anniversary Thank You Celebration, Trenton War Memorial, 10am-2pm
For more information: http://www.souperfest.trentonsoupkitchen.org/

Saturday, April 20: Barlow Circle Cleanup, Meet at intersection of South Clinton and Greenwood, 9am-12pm
For more information: http://caretrenton.tumblr.com/

We hope to see you this Saturday at 9:00!

Assunpink Creek Cleanup, Reviewed

On March 9, Trenton Cities of Service and Trenton Mentoring Coalition kicked off our 2013 Second Saturdays of Service initiative with a park cleanup fittingly in the center of the city, at Mill Hill Park. The Assunpink Creek Cleanup's purpose was to clean the creek bed of debris that was the result of flooding and other litter around the park.
When planning the day, I was operating under the mentoring coalition's recommendation that the event follow through rain-or-shine. However, this plan began to be called into question by me, my co-workers, and some concerned volunteers when Mercer County was clobbered by a last minute snow storm the day before that refused to turn into rain, which is what the forecasts had said. Nonetheless, I had faith that most of the snow would melt by the next day which was supposed to be warm and sunny in comparision.
Morning rolled around and much of the snow remained (photo above) which did hamper some of our efforts to clean the park. That being said, our volunteers made short work of this project because of our sheer numbers. Over sixty volunteers showed up to do a useful service for Mill Hill Park and the broader city. Representatives from Old Mill Hill Society and our local Watershed Ambassador, Jade Greene, gave us some explanation of the historical and environmental significance of that section of the Assunpink Creek. It was amazing to think of the different eras that that section of the city had seen. From being the actual battle line which defined where the Continental Army and British soldiers fought over during the Revolutionary War to being the source of energy for a mill that used to sit on the property (parts of which are still visible), the creek had seen more than we could ever know of Trenton's history as a city.
The day was a promising start to something new. The fact that so many volunteers came out was encouraging to me and gave us the motivation to imagine the possibilities for future projects around the city.

Our next service project will be another litter cleanup, along the D&R Canal trail in Trenton's West Ward. We will be meeting at 9:00 am in the parking lot of Lighthouse Outreach Ministries, at the corner of Bellevue and Hermitage Avenues. We hope to see you there!

Blog Launch

Hello Trenton!


The purpose of this new blog is to both cover and announce voluntary service opportunities, specifically our Second Saturdays of Service initiative, and to announce other service opportunities offered by local organizations in the Trenton area.

Second Saturdays of Service is an initiative led by Trenton Cities of Service and the Trenton Mentoring Coalition. On the second Saturday of every month for the remaining months of the year, we will be planning and holding volunteer service projects around the city for a wide variety of organizations.

We aim for this to be a community blog where we will be posting information and pictures. Please join us and stay in touch about happenings in Trenton!