Dayton Inspires leads spring cleaning effort in Wright-Dunbar neighborhood

Jackie Patton lives in the Dunbar-Wright neighborhood and said she appreciated the cleanup effort.

“I’m so happy to see that someone is doing something because (the dumping of trash) has been ridiculous for years,” Patton said. “I commend (the volunteers) because I always see litter and it’s just awful.”

Volunteers picked up hundreds of bags of rubbish and picked up a mountain of abandoned household items, such as mattresses, laundry baskets, plastic chairs and baby carriers, which they had found littered in the alleys and green spaces.

“It’s nice to be able to go through your day and know you can make a change,” UD junior Darla Hastings said.

“It gives quick results; you start out seeing a bunch of trash everywhere and once you’re done it’s clean so you know you’ve already made an impact,” added Claire McCabe, also a junior at UD.

Saturday’s cleanup was a collaboration between Dayton Inspires and several local organizations and businesses, including MVP Dance Fit, Waste Free Dayton, Keep Montgomery County Beautiful and I Love West Dayton. Coffee was provided by Boston Stoker Coffee Co. and March First Brewing donated 30 pizzas to volunteers.

“It’s such a cool thing,” said Bhumin Desai, culinary director of March First Brewing. “It helps the community and it’s for a good cause, so we thought we should be a part of it.”