Madison recalled a time when the City would pay teens with behavioral problems to work at the Dell to try to motivate them and give them work experience. Sweeney became their de facto supervisor. \u201cThese were the so-called \u2018bad\u2019 kids,\u201d says Madison. \u201cBut Anthony just has this very special quality, he has this way with people, that no matter who you are, he is able to motivate you and work with you to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney impressed Madison so much that she stayed in touch with him and hired him to work some of her events at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. She says he got her out of more than a few jams there. \u201cThis is supposedly the City of Brotherly Love,\u201d Madison observes. \u201cWell, he is basically the city\u2019s loving brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney didn\u2019t start out his life working for the city. After graduating from Frankford High, he opened a car detailing shop that didn\u2019t last and also took cooking classes, eventually spending about 10 years working for the since-closed Germantown restaurant and music venue North by Northwest. Then he learned about the part-time opportunity working for the city at the Dell, and he saw that as a stepping stone to more gainful employment with the city.<\/p>\n
In 2011, the Streets Department was hiring laborers \u2014 what you and I call trash collectors \u2014 and he snagged one of those jobs. \u201cSome people look down on trash collectors,\u201d Sweeney says. \u201cBut they shouldn\u2019t. It\u2019s a very important job, and it\u2019s provided well for me. Plus, so many people lost their jobs during the pandemic. Not me. I was working more than ever. Seven days a week. Fifteen hour days. I didn\u2019t take a day off for two years. Not kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney\u2019s hard work and dedication during the pandemic paid off: In 2023, the Streets Department promoted him to heavy equipment operator, aka he drives the trash trucks. \u201cHe\u2019s a person who comes to work all the time and always does his job,\u201d says his supervisor, Demetrius Thompson. \u201cAnd he\u2019s a motivator. He likes to get the job done, so he motivates those around him to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, says Sweeney, the department really wants him to take the test for a more supervisory position. Less hours. More money. But Sweeney says he just isn\u2019t sure. \u201cEven with the horrible traffic and angry drivers in the city, I really love driving the trash truck,\u201d he insists. \u201cI love seeing the smile on a kid\u2019s face when they wave and I blow the horn for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
PREVIOUS INTEGRITY ICON CELEBRATIONS<\/p>\n
Anthony Sweeney, a 2026 Integrity Icon Award winner. Photo by Sabina Louise Pierce. All rights reserved. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trash collectors are supposed to cart things away from your house \u2014 not show up with items to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82799,90118,69,71,70,9711],"class_list":["post-204605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-integrity-icon","tag-integrity-icon-2026","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-trash-and-litter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}