Media Advisory: Fruit Belt Clean-A-Thon planned for Friday morning

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo’s Center for Urban Studies, in partnership with Buffalo Public School #37 MJD Futures Preparatory Academy, the City of Buffalo and other partners will host its 26th annual Fruit Belt Clean-A-Thon on Friday, June 5.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Futures Preparatory Academy, 295 Carlton St. There is still space in the clean-up crew for anyone interested in signing up. Attendees are asked to register by emailing Sarah Cunningham, director of operations at the Center for Urban Studies, at sacunnin@buffalo.edu or visiting the sign-up link.

The Fruit Belt Clean-A-Thon typically draws about 85 seventh- and eighth-grade students from Futures Academy, and over 50 community members and volunteers.

The schedule:

• 9 a.m. to noon: Participants form cleaning brigades that travel across the Fruit Belt collecting trash and debris. Students will also raise a Fruit Belt flag they designed.
• Noon to 2 p.m.: A celebration with games, activities and a community meal. This year, The Cheesy Chick Food Truck & Cafe is generously preparing and donating lunch for those helping with the cleanup,

For more than two decades, the event has served to help beautify the Fruit Belt neighborhood and demonstrate to children they can make a difference in the neighborhood while celebrating community and care. Also, the long-standing partnership between UB and Futures Academy demonstrates the role that universities and schools can play in improving the neighborhood that hosts them.

The event was founded and is led by Henry-Louis Taylor Jr., PhD, professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, director of the Center for Urban Studies and associate director of the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute.

Organizers aim to give students a valuable experience in community building and an opportunity to learn about how, through civic engagement, they can help improve their community and their neighborhood.