READING, Pa. — Several people spent their Saturday morning making Reading a little more beautiful.
The 5th annual Riverzilla brought volunteers out to Riverfront Park to pick up trash and celebrate nature.
On the bank of the Schuylkill River, Andrew Boyd spent his Saturday morning with other volunteers picking up trash, but he said the dirty job leaves him with a wonderful feeling.
“It’s a beautiful thing to share in this sort of stewardship with the community and to sort of give back,” said Boyd.
Quinn Arms and her sister Avery agreed.
“It just feels good to know that we’re helping our community,” said Quinn Arms.
Organizer Ayashe Ramey said it really does make a difference in keeping the river a resource for everyone.
“The Schuylkill River obviously gets kind of a bad reputation as being a dirty river, but we really want to change that narrative and let people know that this river is usable,” said Ramey.
And it will hopefully continue being usable for years to come.
“Coordinating this effort today for Riverzilla to have people clean up will hopefully inspire them later on to, if they’re passing by the river or anywhere else and they see a spot of trash, to just pick it up,” said Ramey.
And if you see an opportunity to volunteer in future cleanups, take the time to join people like Boyd and the Arms. They said you won’t regret it.
“Come on down, pick up the trash, be a part of your community, make some friends you know?” said Boyd.
“It’s really cool and it just makes you feel good,” said Quinn Arms.