Nearly 40 volunteers gathered Saturday morning at Audubon Park for the Mulch and Clean-Up Day, an event organized by the University of Memphis Honors College in partnership with Memphis City Beautiful.
The cleanup took place at 660 S. Goodlett from 9 to 11 a.m., with check-in starting at 8:45 a.m. Volunteers spread mulch around trees and collected litter as part of National Public Lands Day, which encourages community involvement in environmental stewardship.
Memphis City Beautiful is an organization that works with volunteers to host and support litter prevention and beautification projects throughout the city of Memphis. Founded in 1930, the organization teams up neighborhood associations, schools, and community organizations to make Memphis a better place to live in.
Among the volunteers was Suzanne Shaon, 69, who has worked with Memphis City Beautiful for the past five years.
“For the past five years, I’ve volunteered with Memphis City Beautiful to help maintain many parks and areas around Memphis,” Shaon said. “I have been in Memphis all my life and have been heavily invested in making sure the city of Memphis maintains its beauty.”
University of Memphis students also took part in the effort. Nicholas London, a senior English major, said he feels a responsibility to contribute to the city where he was born and raised.
“Being born and raised here, I feel obligated at times to clean up wherever I can,” London said. “I think the narrative about the city of Memphis is unfair at times. But I do think if more Memphians helped clean up around the city, it could be a step in the right direction for the outside perception of our city.”
The Honors College’s next event is a Studio Ghibli Movie Night on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in Honors Hall. More information can be found on the Tigerzone app.
Carter Burton can be contacted at cmbrton4@memphis.edu.
