The Great American Cleanup Comes to New York

To celebrate Earth Day, volunteers and government officials welcomed the Great American Cleanup to New York.

JOYFUL CROWED: Student volunteers cheer during an event to celebrate the Great American Cleanup in New York City. Volunteers across the nation will be taking the initiative to make their communities greener and cleaner. Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—To celebrate Earth Day, volunteers were joined by city and White House officials to welcome the Great American Cleanup to New York. The nationwide program will mobilize close to 3 million volunteers to beautify their communities, pick up litter, and hold free education programs on living green.

On Wednesday, a rally was held at Military Island on Times Square. Various speakers announced some of New York’s green initiatives, while three massive video screens broadcast their message across Times Square.

Juan Lopez, the senior program manager from the Federal Environmental Executive of the White House spoke at the event, saying that they were there to “celebrate our collective commitment to protect earth’s precious resources for the benefit of this generation and generations to come.”

“You and I are called to make that difference to serve our communities and enriching the quality of life for all of us,” he said.

This year the city is celebrating its own efforts for the Great American Cleanup through the second anniversary of the Keep New York City Beautiful Coalition, which will rally residents to help out in the beautification of New York.

Some of the activities this year will be graffiti removal programs, tree planting, and trash pickup.