Community Corner

NewtonSERVES Volunteers Help Brighten up the City

Roughly 1,200 volunteers spent time on service projects around Newton on Sunday during the annual NewtonSERVES event.

Volunteers from across the city flooded parks, schools and historic sites Sunday to help freshen up the Garden City during the annual NewtonSERVES day of community service.

According to NewtonSERVES, roughly 1,200 volunteers worked at 62 project sites across Newton. Some of the projects included cleaning up by the Charles River, making repairs at and tidying up Newton's historic East and West Parish burial grounds, to name a few.

In an email sent to Newton Patch, the NewtonSERVES organizers said they have received a flood of emails sharing stories of successful projects and supportive volunteers. 

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"One project leader said it well, 'people want to be good and do good things, NewtonSERVES enables them to do so,'" the email said.

In addition to the clean-up projects across the city, artists with the NewtonSERVES BoxART program started on their electrical box artwork around the city. , including spots on Walnut Street, Commonwealth Avenue and Washington Street.

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The full statement from NewtonSERVES is below. Check the photos to the right for shots from the day's events and visit the NewtonSERVES Facebook page for even more photos. 

NewtonSERVES had a wonderful turnout on Sunday, April 29. About 1,200
volunteers worked at 62 project sites all over the city. Photos
capturing the day's work and those who participated are flowing in, as
are messages of such gratitude. A number of project leaders said that
people walking by their project site personally thanked them and other
volunteers for the work they did. And many offered an impromptu hand
and asked how they could help, too. 

Someone also made an analogy to the Buddhist monks in Thailand who go
door to door with their rice bowls asking for food donation with a
double purpose in mind to gather their daily food and to give people
the opportunity to do a good deed by donating. Similarly, NewtonSERVES
gave 1,200 people the opportunity to connect to their community and to
teach their children how to do the same.

We are so appreciative of the time, effort, and energy that all of our
volunteers and project leaders put into these projects. True teamwork
got the job done. We'd also like to thank our lead sponsor Cambridge
Savings Bank, other sponsors, Newton Community Pride, The Mayor's
Office for Cultural Affairs, Newton Parks & Recreation, and our Planning
Committee, each of which was instrumental in making this community day
a success. We'll look forward to another day of community service next
spring and hope that the teamwork and community spirit continues to
thrive throughout the year.


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