A Fresh Start for a New Year

With a day of service for Martin Luther King Day, Ivy Ridge Green is closing in on the milestone of 500 hours of contributed community service since its formation. Ivy Ridge Green is a coalition of community volunteer groups that has been pooling clean and green efforts in the Manayunk, Roxborough and Shawmont neighborhoods of Philadelphia. In a time of City budget shortfalls and reduced resources, groups such as Ivy Ridge Green increasingly rely on people power to accomplish their goals.

In the first clean up of the New Year, the Saint Joseph’s University Women’s Soccer Team came out to lend a hand. The team cleared trash and invasives from the Ivy Ridge Trail and Germany Hill. They also helped Umbria Street Neighbors prepare the lower Fountain Street steps for Spring planting. They even tackled the “pocket park” at Leverington Avenue. While some of the students have a personal connection to the community because they live in the neighborhood or have friends who do, they all realize that lending a hand just makes you feel good!

All of this prep work will help jump start spring projects in these areas. Learn more about how you can pitch in – check out www.ivyridgegreen.org and www.destinationschuylkillriver.org.