Upcoming Opportunity: Earth Day Cleanup

Earlier this week, we mentioned that we would host two Earth Day cleanup projects this month at Riverfront Park. Today will be a quick reminder to share our event with individuals and businesses to participate. We currently have 30+ volunteers registered between both dates, but could always use more. 

Event details: April 22nd from 5-7 PM | April 25th from 12:30 - 3:00 PM

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Two-Part Earth Day Cleanup

Spring is finally here! Well, that's what the calendar says...the weather is a different story. TNP is in overdrive planning for our annual Spring cleanup happening this Earth Day. Today we are going to discuss our plans and tell you how you can volunteer!

As mentioned in the title, we are having two Earth Day cleanups this year. Earth Day falls on a Wednesday this year which could be hard for some of you to attend. On the other hand, some employers allow their employees to take the day off or a half day to volunteer. So we are planning our first cleanup for Wednesday, April 22nd beginning at 5:00 PM for this purpose. The second project will take place on that following Saturday, April 25th between 12:30 - 3:00 PM. This is also our rain date in case Wednesday's weather turns out bad. Both projects include the same amount of work to be completed.

Volunteers are needed to assist in a park, river, and trail cleanup as we prepare for the boating season. Riverfront Park is used primarily for boaters looking to enter the Schuylkill River and is the home of Dragon Boat Club of Norristown. By cleaning this park and surrounding area, we are creating a positive image for the outsiders who use this park and encouraging them to respect the park and keep it clean. Here are other tasks volunteers will be assigned to:

• Cleaning the riverbank, trail and park grounds
• Pruning bushes/trees and pulling weeds
• Planting flowers (tentative)
• Clearing debris caused by previous flooding and Winter
• Cleaning up surrounding neighborhood (time permitting)

We encourage individual, group and business registration for our Earth Day cleanup. RSVP is strongly recommended, however, if you find out you can attend at the last minute, you're invited to join! As the dates gets closer and plans begin to finalize, we will announce more details about this project. In the meantime, please help by spreading the word and keep your calendars open for April 22nd or April 25th! Email sashe@montcooic.org for more details.

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Support Dragon Boat Club!

As you may know by now, Dragon Boat Club and Riverfront took a nasty hit from the last rain storm. With another storm on the way we can only cross our fingers that no more damage happens to the organization. DBC has been very active in the community and shares the same philosophy as TNP...organizations should not compete, instead work together, for a better Norristown. We worked with the group on a cleanup and met a few times about possible activities to do in the community. Today, we are sharing an activity they are doing to raise funds and we are asking for you to support them.

On May 24th and 25th, Dragon Boat Club will host a Flea market on Airy and Dekalb from 8am - 3pm. They are looking for vendors to pay $20.00 day / $30.00 both days. Money raised will help benefit the organization for future events. For more information, email info@dragonboatclub.org.

Also, TNP will head to Riverfront Park for a cleanup on May 25th immediately after as a part of #CleanupNorristown week. So if you're paying attention, that is a big weekend for their organization. Volunteers will be asked to cleanup the park and debris swept up from the previous storm to prepare the park for the Summer. If anyone has visited Riverfront Park, you know many boaters use the grounds in the warmer months to park their cars and head out on the boats. We don't want them coming to a dirty park, so let's spruce it up!

Volunteers of all ages are welcomed to attend on May 25th at 3pm. Members of DBC will be late since they will be wrapping up at the flea market, so volunteers are asked to get their early so we have time to complete everything that needs to be done. The cleanup will be very simple, but huge for them. Like I said before, they were hit the hardest with the flooding, let's come together as a community and help them get back on their feet!

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TNP Announces Norristown Recycles Day

One day to educate. One day to motivate. One day to make recycling bigger and better 365 days a year. in honor of earth month, TNP would like to announce another special project we are working on for the fall. it is called Norristown Recycles Day and will consist of a huge day of recycling and learning about recycling. 

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Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Remember the nursery rhyme Rain, Rain, Go Away...? Yeah, we're singing that right now! The Norristown project as well as the municipality will host an Earth Day Cleanup Blitz on Tuesday and guess what day of the week it's suppose to rain? Early weather reports are calling for a 70% chance of rain in the afternoon which may scare some volunteers away. But we're here to say we won't let Mother Nature keep us inside when we're just trying to clean her up!

As of now, tomorrow's Earth Day cleanup will go on as planned. I can't speak for the municipality but I am assuming they are playing by ear as well, they have a painting project that may wash away so be sure to follow them on Facebook for any updates for their project. 

The maps on NOAA (better than Weather Channel) are showing a shower arriving later in the afternoon. Our project falls right in the middle of that since we will start at 10am and go until 1pm. If the rain doesn't arrive earlier, we will go ahead and continue the cleanup project until the start of rain. We have done this approach before and it has been successful. I always tell volunteers, any work is better than no work. TNP always has a goal of the amount of ground we would like to cover. The only time we haven't met our goal is because of the threat of rain, however, volunteers and the community were still pleased at the outcome.

Whether the rain allows us to clean one block or ten, we will be doing our part at keeping Norristown beautiful and doing our part on Earth Day. So we will have our cleanup as planned and try to accomplish as much as possible. Any work that can not be completed will be added to a future cleanup.

Montgomery County OIC and The Norristown Project looks forward to seeing you tomorrow as we continue to clean up Norristown. If it rains earlier than 10am, give us a call at 610-279-9700 for any updates. If the event is completely rained out, we will set a rescheduled date and cover the same area. There may be a possibility for later in the evening on Saturday so stay tuned.

Details 

When: Tuesday, April 22nd from 10am-1pm
Where: Meet at 1101 Arch Street (OIC building). 
What: Earth Day cleanup. Volunteers will start at the OIC and work their way out into the community picking up trash and debris.
RSVP: Email NorristownProject@gmail.com

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Earth Day Cleanup to Be Held on Tuesday

TNP's first cleanup held last June on Green Street

Happy Friday! Today's blog is quick to talk about our first cleanup of the Spring happening on Tuesday and why you should come volunteer. I also want to mention that our community calendar is currently on a hiatus..I am working on something new with it to help create a more uniform calendar. Stay tuned! In the meantime, I encourage you to head over to Norristown.org to stay in the loop.

On Tuesday, The Norristown Project will co-host a community cleanup with the municipality, Montgomery County OIC and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. This cleanup is a part of the Great American Cleanup which encourages businesses and organizations to clean the community around them and take pride in our environment. 

So when Norristown Municipality sent a call to all business owners and non-profits, TNP stepped up to the plate immediately. Not because volunteer events are our specialty...but simply because we are a member of Norristown and we should do our part. Several local businesses, PennDOT and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful were generous enough to donate supplies for volunteers to make this a success. 

Here's a quick run through of the day's activities: Municipal employees will begin at Elmwood Park first thing in the morning to clean up the park and give the band shell a fresh coat of paint. Their plan is to clean the entire park. TNP and OIC will lead the second part of the cleanup from 10-1 beginning at the OIC and working our way out into the surrounding community. The majority of the work will be collecting trash and debris so we should be able to cover alot of ground. I am asking volunteers who plan on attending to email me a quick note so I can organize the group. You can RSVP by emailing NorristownProject@gmail.com

The meeting location for TNP's cleanup will be at the OIC located at 1101 Arch Street on the 2nd floor. This is the old Hancock School if you're unsure of where that is. You can't miss it! Parking is available from our Basin Street entrance. 

Next year when Earth Day comes around again (because it will), I hope to see more than just a handful of groups participating. The more businesses that participate and host a cleanup each Earth Day, the more ground we can cover in Norristown. 

I understand that a Tuesday is a difficult day for a cleanup to happen, but now you have a heads up for 2015. Earth Day will happen on a Wednesday next year, mark your calendars, request off work and plan to attend! 

The Norristown Project will also host more events in conjunction with national cleanup campaigns. We have a full schedule that we have yet to release. We want to keep you on the edge of your seats guessing! I can tell you that we will be very busy this Summer. For now, I will let you know that in the fall, we will host a huge recycling event so stay tuned.

I thank you in advance for volunteering this Earth Day. Remember, we only have one! Also, I would like to thank Gabriela with Norristown Municipality for coordinating this year's cleanup! We look forward to working with you on Tuesday and for future events.

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Earth Day Cleanup April 22nd

Alright, it looks like no more snow storms will hit us for the rest of the season. Now it's time to start talking about outdoor activities. The Norristown Project is ready to get back outside and host a full season of community cleanups and events. This Earth Day, TNP is joining Norristown Municipality on a town-wide cleanup effort!

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Spring Schedule Coming Soon!

The Norristown Project, like most of the town, is ready for Spring! We couldn't be more excited for Spring because this means we will continue our community cleanup projects. The community benefited greatly from these projects and we hope to continue this tradition.

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Press Release: MLK Day of Service 2014

For immediate release:

The Norristown Project will host three volunteer events throughout Norristown in celebration of MLK Day of Service weekend. All activities will take place on January 18th, 2014. For a complete list of events and activities, see below:

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MLK Day of Service Weekend in Norristown

Gearing up for the MLK Day of Service weekend, The Norristown Project has announced a list of our volunteer events around Norristown! The list of activities we will do that Saturday before MLK Day, January 18th, only continues to grow as more and more volunteers express interest in helping out.

About the holiday

MLK day of Service was formed to honor the late Dr Martin Luther king Jr and his continued push for community involvement and being an advocate of change. When Barack Obama assumed office as President, he re-dictated the holiday to be a weekend of service throughout America. Today, the holiday has grown to be one of the largest day of volunteering across America. And now it is coming to Norristown.

TNP is ready to host multiple volunteer opportunities suitable for all ages around Norristown as we work towards our mission and helping the town restore their image. On our schedule, we plan to visit the Arts Hill, Selma Mansion, TNP headquarters at the old Hancock School and elderly and retired Veterans' homes. Here is a breakdown of the day's activities:

9am - OIC Building Basement Restoration and Cleaning Project

Kicking off our day of volunteering will be at our home base to help our lead agency with a restoration project. To kick off an expansion project of Montco OIC's programs from a new grant, restoration will begin in the basement of the OIC building to make room for office space on the lower level for more classes on the upper levels. This is a great opportunity to see the history of the old Hancock School and the classrooms that were once filled with children over 60 years ago! When the OIC purchased the building in 1964, the basement was repurposed as a wood shop, carpentry and automotive classes. With the growth of the Vo-Tech, those programs were removed, shifting OIC to focus on their literacy programs and computer classes. Today, they are witnessing a spike in their GED, ESL and Adult Basic Education classes giving them the opportunity to expand. Also, they will begin new programs that include job training and expansion on the child care program. Once the entire renovation process is complete, offices would be located mainly in the basement and the upper levels will be for the daycare and adult classrooms.

Join them for this exciting new project! Volunteers will clear out the basement and clean up the area. This will kick off our construction to the basement to be completed in 2014! The event will go until 12 noon. RSVP on Facebook.

12 noon - Selma Mansion Project

Joining forces with Norristown Preservation Society, The Norristown Project will head over to Selma Mansion to help with their restoration project. If you're keeping track, that's two historic building restoration projects and the day's not over! An anonymous donation has made way for a big restoration project at the mansion to preserve Norristown's history. If you don't know the history of the Selma Mansion, please check it out online!

Volunteers will help a restoration project in the cellar of the property. More details will come hopefully by the end of the month but you can RSVP now for that event! The event will end at 3:00pm. Food will be served at the conclusion of the event.

3 pm - Centre Theater in Norristown Arts Hill

TNP will finish off the day by heading to Centre Theater to assist with a cleanup project in and around the building. Volunteers will assist the staff in Centre Theater with preparing for future shows, cleaning the arts hill and more. Details to follow in the next couple weeks. You can RSVP on Facebook now! Event ends at 6pm.

Also, during the day, NAHS will send member of the 9th grade for community service hours. They will clean the daycare rooms and toys as well as assisting with other projects around the building. We are thrilled that the high school has stepped up to encourage their students to complete community service. We look forward to starting this partnership with creating activities for them that will help the community.

The graffiti project is still going to happen during that weekend but is closed for registration right now. We may be getting a group to work on that so check back later!

Keep checking back for updates on our MLK Day of Service holiday and visit our Facebook for the most up to date information on the day of service. As always, you can email us at NorristownProject@gmail.com if you would like to help organize an event.

What project are you most excited for?

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