Protests have been happening across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd and now people in those communities are uniting to clean up the aftermath. Some of the protests have left city streets covered in debris and broken glass and hundreds of volunteers are stepping up to clean up their local areas.
In Philadelphia, journalist Christie Ileto spotted an “army of volunteers” tackling City Center and Rittenhouse. A twitter user from grand Rapids, Michigan, posted that her “heart is lifted” after seeing hundreds of people downtown cleaning up the city. And in Buffalo, New York, volunteers got to work on the mess “just minutes after the curfew ended,” according to reporter Christy Kern.
Cities including Ferguson, Missouri, Seattle, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Atlanta all had people coming out to pitch in and clean up. The group effort is showing the best of the communities and it’s helping people to start healing, like Seattle Police Department Chief Carmen Best, who says she’s “totally inspired” by the community coming together to tackle the damage and destruction.
My heart is lifted as I make my way through downtown with hundreds of people helping clean up our city. This is our Grand Rapids.