{"id":272911,"date":"2026-08-27T00:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272911\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:28:12","slug":"marking-a-milestone-scranton-tomorrows-downtown-clean-ambassadors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272911\/","title":{"rendered":"Marking a Milestone: Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s Downtown Clean Ambassadors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before the first cups of coffee are brewed in downtown cafes, before lights brighten downtown offices, and before boutique owners flip their door signs to \u201cOpen,\u201d Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s Downtown Clean Ambassadors are hard at work preparing streets and sidewalks for another busy day in the business district.<\/p>\n

\"AKeeping storm drains clean is an important service the ambassadors provide to the downtown business district.
\nThis month marks a year of service for the ambassadors<\/p>\n

Scranton Tomorrow<\/a> launched the program in August of 2025 with a grant from Sen. Marty Flynn and additional funding support from the City of Scranton and Lackawanna County. Monday through Friday, you\u2019ll see the uniformed ambassadors sweeping sidewalks, erasing graffiti, picking up litter, maintaining planters, weeding, removing snow and ice from sidewalk ramps and fire hydrants, giving directions and answering questions from visitors.<\/p>\n

\"AmbassadorsJeff Mead, operations manager, Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s Ambassador Program, works with community volunteers to beautify downtown Scranton.
\nOn a mission to keep Downtown Scranton Beautiful<\/p>\n

Jeff Mead, operations manager, and ambassadors Robert and Michael, also work closely with Scranton Tomorrow staff members to support beautification programs and special events the organization hosts. From distributing event posters to local businesses to planting flowers with community volunteers, the ambassadors are always ready to lend a hand. \u201cWe hit the ground running,\u201d said Jeff Mead, operations manager. \u201cEvery event was a first for us last year. I\u2019m really proud of the connections we made through Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s programming, and how much we learned. We take pride in what we\u2019re doing. We notice the difference it makes every day and other people are noticing, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AAmbassadors work with community volunteers to keep the flowers in downtown Scranton healthy and vibrant.
\nWorking together with volunteers and local businesses<\/p>\n

Steve Ward, project manager of Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s Safe, Clean & Green program<\/a>, said the Ambassador Program benefits everyone in the community. \u201cThis is a great experience for everybody involved. The ambassadors have had an opportunity to work alongside people from diverse backgrounds in the community to remove litter and blight and to beautify the downtown. Plus, they work with Liz Baldi, our business development director, to help promote special events and they interact one-on-one with the small businesses downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ALook out weeds, the ambassadors are coming for you! Last year, Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s Downtown Clean Ambassadors devoted 181 hours to eradicating weeds from the downtown landscape.
\nWaging war against weeds & overflowing trash cans<\/p>\n

A year ago, downtown was facing what Mead calls a \u201cweed pandemic,\u201d and a chronic issue with garbage cans filled beyond their capacity. \u201cLast year, there were weeds as high as my knees and overflowing garbage cans,\u201d he said. This has drastically changed since the ambassadors came to town. \u201cWe\u2019re out there before the city wakes up to get downtown ready for the business day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ASince the program started last August, the ambassadors have trimmed 109 trees in the business district.
\nOne weed, one pound of litter at a time<\/p>\n

Committed to making the business district a welcoming and inviting place to shop<\/a>, dine<\/a> and visit, the ambassadors are on a mission to help the downtown reach its greatest potential.<\/p>\n

Between September 2025 and August 2026, the ambassadors:<\/p>\n

Removed 18,534 pounds of litter
\nEliminated 719 stickers
\nDevoted 181 hours to weeding
\nCleared 101 graffiti tags
\nTrimmed 109 trees<\/p>\n

\"AThe ambassadors help to keep Christopher A. Doherty Park (aka the pocket park) looking its best.
\nNeed help? Ask an ambassador<\/p>\n

Living up to their program name, the ambassadors spread goodwill throughout the downtown, often giving directions and answering questions from tourists, holding doors open for residents who have their arms full, and helping visitors navigate the area.<\/p>\n

One of the most common questions they address is, \u201cWhere\u2019s the Office mural?\u201d Fans of the popular NBC sitcom travel from all over the world to see The Office: The Story of Us<\/a> mural on Lackawanna Avenue. \u201cI go by there once or twice a week and I see people taking selfies,\u201d Mead said. \u201cThey\u2019ll have a suitcase in their hand and I\u2019ll stop and say, \u2018Hey, want me to take your picture?\u2019 That happens quite a bit. I\u2019ve done that at least a dozen times with random groups of people. There\u2019s some fun stuff here, and I think this program is really adding to what Scranton is becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long before the first cups of coffee are brewed in downtown cafes, before lights brighten downtown offices, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-272911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272911","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=272911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}