Volunteers Collected Bags of Trash from Rome Neighborhood
ROME, N.Y. – United Way of the Mohawk Valley’s Emerging Leaders United (United Way MV’s ELU) doubled down its efforts to beautify our neighborhoods with a second clean-up this year!
ELU partnered with the city of Rome in their efforts for the ELU Fall Clean-up. The crew cleared out debris along the sidewalks and streets of West Rome on September 17th. They focused on the Liberty Gardens, Gansevoort Elementary School, and Steven’s Field Playground areas.
“These clean-up efforts are just a reminder to all of us that working together unites us,” said Erin Gutierrez Matt, United Way of the Mohawk Valley’s Executive Director. “Emerging Leaders United makes this a priority each year because it is appreciated by the people here. That’s worth the effort every time because we care about bringing people together to make an impact right here in this community.”
Each year, ELU heads to a different area of the Mohawk Valley for this annual volunteer event. This time around, after a long and populated summer, 32 volunteers gathered 28 bags of garbage from the clean-up in Rome.
These incredible endeavors to help local neighborhoods prosper are supported by United Way MV ELU sponsors Berkshire Bank and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
“Berkshire Bank has been a long-time supporter of United Way in all the communities we serve,” said Matthew Nicholl, Berkshire Bank’s Business Banking Vice President. “We have enjoyed working with the United Way of the Mohawk Valley on many great projects over the years and look forward to continuing that partnership.”
Without these long-time community partnerships, United Way of the Mohawk Valley wouldn’t be able to continue creating a thriving community by connecting people, resources, and solutions throughout our area.
“Our organization has a long history of supporting United Way of the Mohawk Valley as they continue to bring vital programs and innovative solutions to those who are most in need,” said Eve Van de Wal, Excellus BCBS Utica Regional President. “Together, we share the common goal of improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.”
Volunteers were split into groups and competed to see who could win a scavenger hunt, finding items that started with the letters of the alphabet for a chance to win a prize, and enjoyed pizza partially donated by Laroma Pizzeria as a thank you for their time.
While this is the first fall version of ELU's Clean-up efforts, it is the fourth year they have helped to bring local community volunteers together to beautify the Mohawk Valley.
For more information on Emerging Leaders United, visit unitedwaymv.org/elu.
To get involved and volunteer in the Mohawk Valley community, visit voluntersunitedmv.org.
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About United Way of the Mohawk Valley
Since 1921, United Way of the Mohawk Valley (United Way MV) has been a human service leader helping thousands of local individuals and families by bringing people and organizations together to solve our community’s challenges. As one of the area’s top funders, dozens of programs rely on United Way MV funding each year.
United Way MV is a leader in innovation through projects and initiatives addressing crucial community issues in the impact areas of health, education, and financial stability. For information about United Way of the Mohawk Valley, to donate or to get involved visit www.unitedwaymv.org, or call 315.733.4691
