Pomona gears up for beautification day
POMONA - On the surface the third annual Citywide Beautification Day taking place May 9 is about sprucing up the city.
Go a bit deeper and the beautification project is a community building exercise that can result in many new relationships from non-profits connecting with other similar groups to residents meeting neighbors, said Rev. Rick DeBruyne, pastor of Lincoln Avenue Community Church and a member of the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.
Plans call for matching up college students with younger children and having them work side by side, DeBruyne said.
By bringing the two groups together, "we're getting the (younger) kids exposed to college and the college-going idea," he said.
The clean-up also offers residents who may have little contact with neighbors a way to meet them.
"They're ridding themselves of the fears of a neighborhood and of blight," DeBryne said.
DeBruyne, along with Frank Garcia, executive director of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce, and Scott Kelly, director for community and government relations for Fairplex, are heading up this year's clean-up.
Even though the clean-up is about five weeks away groups have already begun signing up for the event, DeBruyne said.
Schools, church organizations, Neighborhood Watch groups, Cal Poly Pomona students, are among the groups who have signed up so far, he said.
Some city employees have also offered to donate their time so they can help handle larger projects such as graffiti removal, DeBruyne said.
Last year, the second year of the clean-up, about 3,000 people participated in the event which included cleaning up 43 sites around the city, Garcia said, adding he believes those numbers will easily be surpassed this year.
"We have 165,000 people in the city. I'd love to get 6,000 involved," he said.
Among those new to the clean-up this year will be Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Hospital employees along with its substantial contingent of hospital volunteers will be invited to participate in the effort.
The hospital plans on using various measures including distributing fliers, addressing department managers at their weekly meetings and computer screen savers to get the word out to people about the clean-up
"We will pull out the stops," said hospital spokeswoman Kathy Roche, who is among those working on organizing the hospital's participation in the clean-up.
The hospital already has some target areas to work on, said Michael Vestino, executive director of support services for Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Among the sites will be the Caltrans parking lot below the 10 Freeway and areas near the hospital's Family Health Center.
"It's clean-up Pomona and make the surrounding areas nice," Vestino said.
Roche said putting together a hospital clean-up team is a chance to give back to the city while instilling the same responsibility in the children of hospital personnel.
"What a wonderful gift we can give the community...to be a volunteer for the good of the community," she said.
The Citywide Beautification Day will take place May 9 with teams of workers sprucing up the city from 8 a.m. to noon.
After the clean-up, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., a free barbecue will be offered at Fairplex for all the clean-up participants.
Groups and individuals can can request registration forms by e-mailing the Pomona Chamber of Commerce at info@pomonachamber.org or calling (909) 622-1256.
A good area to clean up would be the towne underpass under the 10 fwy. I have trying to find out who is responsible for that area. I would be so willing to clean up the sidewalk if others could join me. All the High School students walk through there every day and it looks disgusting.
WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE THE DAY WHEN THE CITY OF POMONA REDO THE ROADS FROM 10 FRWY NORTH TO FOOTHILL BLVD. AND FROM TOWNE AVE WEST TO WHITE. THESE ROADS MAKE THE CITY LOOK LIKE A GHETTO AREA. WHY CAN'T THEY BE RE DONE TO MAKE THE CITY LOOK MORE DESIRABLE TO VISIT. MOST PEOPLE THINK POMONA IS A GHETTO BECAUSE OF THESE ROADS ARE CRACKING AND MANY POT HOLES EVERYWHERE.