2023 Love Your Block Spring Cleanups Announced

Love Your Block is a Citywide community service event that invites community organizations, local businesses, and neighborhood groups to host a spring cleanup in their neighborhood. Groups interested in hosting a cleanup can now sign up here. Additionally the City is seeking volunteers to participate in scheduled cleanups.

“Love Your Block has become a beloved tradition in our neighborhoods to come together and beautify corners across Boston,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Our Office of Civic Organizing is ready to help connect volunteers and provide cleanup tools, so I encourage any interested community groups to identify a spot that could benefit from some care and sign up!”

Cleanups will take place in every neighborhood of Boston over the course of two weekends. The dates are as follows:

Saturday, April 22: Allston-Brighton, Charlestown, Chinatown, Dorchester, Downtown, Fenway-Kenmore, Fields Corner, Leather District, Mattapan, Mid-Dorchester, Mission Hill, Roslindale, Roxbury, West Roxbury. 

Saturday, April 29: Back Bay, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, North End, South End, South Boston, St. Botolph (Back Bay), West End, Wharf District. 

Some neighborhoods have already had local organizations volunteer to host a cleanup. These partners are listed on boston.gov/love-your-block. Multiple cleanups in each neighborhood are encouraged, so local organizations can still sign up to host in any neighborhood. This year the Love Your Block cleanups fall on Earth Day (4/22) and Arbor Day (4/29).

The Love Your Block program was first created in 2015 with a three-year grant awarded to the City of Boston by Cities of Service. After the grant's expiration in 2018, Love Your Block became a permanent City program under the Mayor’s Community Engagement Cabinet. 

“Love Your Block is an exciting opportunity for residents to come together, take ownership of our neighborhoods, and exercise our civic power,” said Director of Civic Organizing Henry Santana. “We look forward to working with neighbors and community partners to keep Boston clean and green.” 

“Love Your Block is an event that the Cabinet of Community Engagement’s Office of Civic Organizing leads each year. It’s our civil responsibility to keep our communities beautiful, so residents and their families can continue to take pride in their neighborhoods,” said Chief of Community Engagement Brianna Millor. 

In past Love Your Block cleanups, neighborhood groups have picked up litter from streets and sidewalks, beautified local parks, cleaned up vacant lots, urban wilds, and more. For tips on how to plan and host a cleanup in your neighborhood, OCO has created a helpful guide.

"Chinatown Main Street has participated with ‘Love Your Block’ for many years,” said Debbie Ho, the Executive Director of Chinatown Main Street, one of the organizations that has already committed to hosting a Love Your Block cleanup. “We all want to be sure we have a clean Chinatown and it's important that we involve volunteers within and outside of the Chinatown community to create a unified Boston!” 

Those interested in hosting a neighborhood cleanup can sign up here to request support, volunteer t-shirts, and tools such as trash bags, gloves, brooms, rakes, and trash pickers. Requests will be accepted until Wednesday, April 5 at 5:00 p.m. 

Those interested in signing up as a volunteer can also do so here. OCO will connect you with a cleanup site in your neighborhood once all sites are finalized. 

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF CIVIC ORGANIZING

The Office of Civic Organizing is committed to collaborative partnerships and programs that promote engagement, awareness, and service in communities throughout the City of Boston.