nFor 25 years, the University at Buffalo’s Urban Studies program has been partnering with the FruitBelt Coalition and Futures Academy on the annual Fruit Belt Clean-a-thon. Friday marked the newest addition to the tradition.
The clean-a-thon is meaningful because students can directly see how much they're affecting the school and the community, eighth grade student Piper Curtis said.
"It's really encouraging for me as a whole, because it really just shows that I as myself, have an impact on other people and how I can change them and how they can change the world."
Empowering students to take ownership and actively improve the community is one of the primary motivations for why FruitBelt Coalition President Benjamin Cashaw works to keep the event going today.
A key factor in making the event a success year after year is adapting to student needs and interests, Cashaw said.
"The demographics of the Fruit Belt, the whole city, have changed. We have such a diverse, melting pot of cultures in this school because of the influx of different people," he said. "The menu had to change; we have to include Halal food now. Okay, so, things change, and that's a good thing. We represent America at its best."
It's also a unique experience because children across grade levels get the opportunity to interact, as opposed to many other times throughout the year when they stay separated by age, Futures Academy school psychologist Sophia MacKinnon said.
"They're coming together, they're seeing what the older kids can do by going out and cleaning up the neighborhood and having outreach," she said. "Then, they're coming together to share lunch and share the good times, and field day."
While the entire school gets involved, seventh and eighth grades are the only ones that go out collecting garbage. The other grade levels have a variety of events for outdoor recreation and learning, but it's important that younger children become familiar with the clean-a-thon and see its positive impact, said Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo, and clean-a-thon co-founder.
"We have a responsibility to create the spaces that are important to us. This isn't just space, they're symbols that talk, and the symbols that tell them they are nothing and nobody are omnipresent on Buffalo's East Sde." he said. "the kids, in their own way, appreciate that this new symbolism is about joy. It's about hope, but most of all, it's about empowerment."
One of the crowning achievements to come out of the event is Futures Academy's outdoor activity space across the street, Cashaw said. It started as a property where FruitBelt Coalition Anthony Chestnut was raised, but was donated by Fruit Belt activist and Anthony's mother, Florida Chestnut.
"They cultivated this community, and now their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (are) still here and promulgating what they started to enhance what this community represents," he said.
The space was cleared out and re-purposed over the years. It now includes a yard where students can play and access even outside school hours, a garden to grow fruits and vegetables, and a nature area to learn about insects and birds.
