Showing Up for a Cleaner City

Several weeks ago our Local Conversation leaders connected with one of the many active neighborhood associations in Milwaukee, the Midtown Neighborhood Alliance. On one of the few hot, sunny days we’ve had this spring, volunteers from both organizations got together at Tiefenthaler Park and cleaned up litter to the tune of several dozen bags. And as is usually the case, a cleaner town is one of two benefits we all see. The second is the connections we make, and the discovery that, whether we label it as such or not, we’re all working to build a strong Milwaukee in whatever way we can, and that in itself is a reward.

One of Midtown’s volunteers, Gloria, has been doing this sort of cleanup, often on her own, for years. Somewhere along the way one of her kids asked her why she did it, even without help.

“Because it’s our neighborhood.”

Making progress doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.