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The Asbury Park Quality of Life Committee, formed earlier this year by Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton, officially launched its Pride in the Park initiative Friday.

Aimed at improving the quality of life for city residents, the committee is asking volunteers to join in the upcoming city-wide cleanups, planned for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct 10 and 17.

“We are launching all hands on deck initiative,” said Tom Gilmour, Director of Economic Development, of the cleanups.

Attended by close to 50, the event featured an art collaboration with the school district’s students. Above the winning poster was done by Keyoona Weaver.

“We wanted to have the students in the city tell us what they thought of Pride in the Park,” Clayton said. “Out of that came amazing artwork from our children.”

Students from kindergarten through high school submitted their work, which will remain on a rotating display in city hall’s lobby through November, Clayton said.

“The children said there are things that we like and there are things that we need to work on,” Clayton said.  “The themes that they came up with are these themes. They talked about recycling, they talked about a beautiful Asbury Park, they said they liked the diversity of our city, and they talked about anti-bullying. So when we saw this we knew we didn’t have to come up with themes, they’ve already told us what it should be.”

Saturday’s cleanup will kick off the recycling theme, asking residents to join in correctly disposing of plastics and other recyclable materials. A truck shredder will be stationed in the municipal parking lot during the October 10 cleanup so that residents can do away with sensitive materials and bulk paper items they’ve been holding onto for lack of a way to dispose of them, Clayton said.

Formed earlier this year, the Quality of Life Committee also concentrates its efforts on monitoring everything from missing manhole covers to traffic light outages. They are currently working on obtaining grant and Clean Cities monies to purchase new trash cans for the business district, Main Street and Springwood Avenue corridors.

“We want to do what we can to bring the city together, that is why we have divided the city north to south rather than east to west,” Clayton said.

The first cleanup will concentrate run from Asbury Avenue south from Ridge to Ocean avenues. The October 17 cleanup will run from Asbury Avenue north from Ridge to Ocean avenues.

During the second cleanup teams will distribute smoke detectors residents in the southwest quadrant, Clayton said. Sponsored by the local American Red Cross chapter, fire department members will evaluate and install needed smoke detectors. Teams will also discuss creating exit plans in case of fire and establishing a meeting place to ensure all residence are accounted for during a fire.

Volunteers can register by calling (732) 710-6415 or by sending an email to info@cityofasburypark.com or Yvonne.clayton@acityofasburypark.com with your name, telephone number and email address.  The staging area will be at the municipal parking lot and all supplies, including gloves, will be provided.

A “Thank you for Volunteers Celebration will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. October 23r at the Transportation Center, Clayton said.  Additional details will be released as they are finalized.

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