POTTSTOWN, PA – After a frosty winter, the Hobart’s Run staff is looking forward to getting outside and picking up litter – and encouraging Pottstown residents to do the same. The nonprofit also has planned a new endeavor to help tackle an environmental issue that affects quality of life – and cleanliness of our water supply – here in the Borough.
On Saturday, April 26, residents from throughout the Borough are encouraged to participate in what Hobart’s Run has dubbed Gutter And Grate Adoption Day (GAGA Day). Top contributors to this effort will win local restaurant gift cards, courtesy of Hobart’s Run.
Why is Hobart’s Run “gaga” about clean gutters and grates? Here are facts gleaned from the Borough of Pottstown website and other sources:
- Obviously, the accumulation of litter and debris in gutters and grates in unsightly as well as unsanitary.
- Storm grates/drains help prevent road flooding – but only if they are clear.
- When polluted stormwater from street trash flows into our waterways through the grates, it harms the quality of water used for drinking, washing, recreation, and fishing and can increase water treatment costs.
- Debris that makes it into waterways – including cigarette butts and plastic bags, bottles, and six-pack rings – damages or kills aquatic life, from fish to birds.
Here are the “dirty” details for this volunteer effort:
- Residents who want to participate in GAGA Day can pick up special bags, safety vests, and gloves and borrow rakes and shovels at the Hobart’s Run office, 856 E. High St., the week prior to April 26. Please call ahead or email to make sure we are ready for you (contact@hobartsrunpottstown.org or 610-705-1018). Participants are asked to use the purple bags that will be provided through the Borough’s Adopt-a-Street program for litter; organic leaf and other organic debris will go into brown paper bags which Hobart’s Run also will provide.
- On GAGA Day, Saturday, April 26, set out into your neighborhood to find gutters and storm grates that need some love in the form of debris and litter removal. Important: Please take “before” pictures of the gutters and storm grates (they’ll be used to determine prize winners)!
- Go “gaga” by raking and bagging all debris and trash and place your bags at the corner of each street you’ve cleaned. Proudly take “after” photos and, in the photo, clearly show the street sign at the corner of the block where you targeted the gutter so Hobart’s Run and the Borough will know where you have worked and where to pick up bags. Submit before and after photos to contact@hobartsrunpottstown.org with the subject line “GAGA DAY” or text to 610-906-7872 with the subject line. Please be sure to note your name and contact information.
- The individual, family, or small group that cleans the most gutters and grates and submits the greatest number of before and after photos as proof will win a $100 gift card to Little Italy/The Pourhouse. (The more members you have in your team, the more you can clean up – so line up your teammates!)
- The second-place team will receive a $75 gift card; third place will receive a $50 gift card.
- Please return borrowed tools to Hobart’s Run when you have finished.
Gather some friends to help with GAGA Day and spread the word to folks throughout the Borough about this clean and green community-building initiative.
