Interested in helping the White Center Community Development Association mobilize a major cleanup effort? The format has changed this year, spreading the good work out from April to August. Participants, as always, can get their hands on a coveted "I (Heart) White Center" t-shirt.

Here are the details from Marquise Roberson-Bester, community builder for CDA:

White Center Community Members,

I hope this message finds you in great health and spirits. As the seasons change and we get ready for nicer weather it’s time to think about making our community look equally nice.

This year I will be leading the White Center Spring Clean effort in White Center. After looking at the surveys from last year, we wanted to see how we can improve on our annual Spring Clean event that typically brings out a collective group of over 500 residents, neighbors and community partners!

Spring Clean 2013 Format

This year we are going to change the format for SpringClean. Instead of a one day event with over 20+ projects, we will move to having multiple projects over a series of months during the calendar year.

Projects will be held on a Friday or Saturday once a month during the next 5 months (April-August). The final month ofSpring Clean projects will include a celebration of all the projects that have been completed during the year!

The idea of changing the format is because by doing projects over a span of months, we will be able to sustain the beauty of our community. This also allows for us to do some different projects that did not fit our one day time-frame. With the new format, we wanted to broaden the opportunities for community to be a part of the beautification White Center!

Call for Project Proposals & Volunteers

If you were a project lead last year or have an idea for aSpring Clean project please submit a proposal form. You can find the form on the WCCDA webpage. This year you have 5 months to chose from: April, May, June, July and August. (Projects can be done more than once if there is a need). Some example of projects from last year are: Lakewood Parkclean-up, repainting murals, graffiti cover-up, windowcleaning in the business district, etc.

For Volunteers, you now have a variety of opportunities to come out and make White Center a great place! We will continue the great tradition of providing the famous I heart White Center T-shirts (free) to volunteers, a light breakfast (the day of the event) and recognition at our celebration in September. At the celebration we will have food, fun, giveaways and entertainment! To find more information on VOLUNTEERING please check out our webpage.

2013 Spring Clean is going to be an awesome event and we want you to be a part of the greatness!! To recap these are the ways that you can be involved:
• Project Creator/Lead- Come up with a great project to help clean and beautify White Center, fill out a proposal form and we will help you get it done.
• Volunteer- Pick a day that works for your schedule, sign-up for that day, get others from your groups, neighborhood, job, etc to come and help out. Spread the word!!
• Sponsor- If you can volunteer or come up with a project you can always donate to the cause. We could use supplies, advertising and money to make this a success.

To do any of these things, please visit the WCCDA webpage for further instructions. If you have any question or concerns you can also contact me at marquise@wccda.org or call 206.694.1082.

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More information on Spring Clean 2013 from the WCCDA:

The White Center Community Development Association (CDA) will be hosting the 10th Annual White Center Spring Clean beginning Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 9am to noon. The Spring Clean will be different than in years past in that it will consist of multiple projects spread out over the upcoming spring and summer months.

Projects will be held on a Friday or Saturday once a month concluding with a celebration of all the projects that will have been completed this year. In addition to April 13 the upcoming Spring Clean dates and times are:
• Friday, May 24 8am-1pm
• Saturday, June 22 9am-noon
• Saturday, July 20 9am-noon
• Saturday, August 10 9am-noon

The idea of changing the format from a one day event came as a result of community feedback with a desired goal of furthering the impact of the beautification that takes place during the clean up.

“We are really excited to see how much of an impact we can make as a community through suggested project ideas, volunteering and donations over the next couple of months,” says White Center CDA Community Builder Marquise Roberson. “This community means so much to everyone, so it will be great to see us sustain its beauty through a community effort.”

Projects that will be taking place throughout the upcoming 5 months include redoing murals, window washing in White Center’s business district, graffiti removal, gardening, and trash pick-up. Furthermore each month will have specific projects that will allow volunteers to impact their community in different ways. On April 13 one of the Spring Clean projects will be helping Greenbridge residents with spring cleaning and clothes recycling. A local electronics recycling company will also be on hand to pick up old or unwanted electronics. Also, on April 13 volunteers will come together to cover up graffiti in the community.

Volunteers will be given free ‘I Heart White Center’ t-shirts, a light breakfast the day of the event, and will receive recognition at a community celebration on September 6th, 2013. This celebration will include food, giveaways, and entertainment for volunteers and community members alike.

The White Center CDA is a bold, innovative, community-led, sustainable and results-driven organization committed to eliminating racism and creating positive economic and social change. Its mission is to develop authentic leadership, leverage resources and build economic and social equity to create a strong, connected and vibrant community. This is achieved by: Promoting strong community leadership through engagement and relationship building; Building capacity to work together across communities, cultures and systems; Leveraging resources to strengthen families, develop neighborhoods and support a healthy community; Organizing and advocating for community-driven policy and social change.

Volunteers are needed; those interested in volunteering or learning more about the White Center Spring please visit http://www.wccda.org/home/wccda/2408

For more information please contact Marquise Roberson, Community Builder at (206) 694-1082 or Marquise@wccda.org.