Elmwood Revival

By Valerie Nicholas

When you hear spring, what do you think of first?  Rain? Wind? Maybe even sunshine?  Sun was the only one present this weekend at the annual cleanup of Elmwood Village in Buffalo, NY.  The event was hosted on Saturday, April 24, 2010 and lead by the Elmwood Village Association.

Each winter, the snow covers everything from grass to leaves to garbage.  So when the snow melts, and the sun starts to shine, it is our duty as citizens to make a difference in cleaning up our community.  Over 100 volunteers from various schools, churches, and businesses showed up Saturday morning to do their part in cleaning up Elmwood Avenue.  Men and women and children walked from Forest Avenue all the way down to Allentown sweeping the curbs and picking up garbage out the tree beds, just to prove to ourselves and others that Buffalo can and will be a beautiful city.
    We talked with Elmwood Village Association’s spokesperson, Justin Azzarella to find out why they do this each year and how the get such a great turn out.  According to Justin, they send out press releases and posts on various websites such as twitter, facebook, myspace and their own association website.  “We had a tremendous turnout this year.  A number of churches showed up to help out, which is something new to us; but is a great thing,” states Justin.  Churches as far as Eden arrived to show their support for Buffalo and their support for a greener, healthier earth.
    One church in particular was at Elmwood Avenue not only to clean up but also to show their support for “World Vision” to fight hunger.  My Father’s House Church out of mid-NY were participating in a 30 hour famine to raise money for World Vision.  Various fraternities and sororities from Buffalo State College showed up with brooms and gloves to clean up their neighborhood as well.
    As I walked up and down Elmwood, I saw the relationship and bonding that was created between all the volunteers that had showed up to take part in this annual event.  They all pulled together to accomplish a goal and that is one of many reasons the city of Buffalo prospers so well compared to other cities around them in similar situations.  Businesses along the “art-central” of Buffalo care about their neighborhood and the cosmetics of it.  At one point, I saw  a worker at Sunoco gas station spraying off all the debris and garbage on the gas pumps.  Family restaurants cleaned up their patios and gardens.  Even the little children participated in picking up and cleaning up the area.
    This may have been led by a non-profit organization, but the weather and the amount of people who volunteered was an answer from God.  The forecast showed rain, but God had another plan.  There was not a cloud in the sky Saturday morning and afternoon; and the warmth and sunshine fed peoples faith and spirits.  Usually when people say cleaning, you think the response would be “ugh, really?” but not on Saturday.  Walking down Elmwood, you would have thought it was a Sunday morning; everyone in sight had a smile, the bicyclists were out, the animals were playing in the yards and the close-knit families were standing up for their views and making a difference in Buffalo.