Pine Bluff leaders are seeking volunteers to join a coordinated day of service to improve the city on Saturday, March 11.
Stephen Bronskill, special projects coordinator for Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington, invites civic organizations, churches, students, families and community members to participate by meeting at 9 a.m. at Pine Bluff High School. They will go to other locations from there.
“We welcome anyone’s participation,” Bronskill said. “We are trying to bring people together and build a better Pine Bluff. We hope to have good weather and do this in the months to come. There was a day of service related to the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.”
Volunteers will receive breakfast and lunch. Bronskill said volunteers should bring clothes and shoes that can get dirty. They will be maintaining community gardens, painting and beautifying structures, cleaning neighborhoods and schools, improving local parks, and making cards and prayer beads for needy people.
“We will have inside projects so there is something for people of all ages and abilities to do,” Bronskill said. “We welcome people to contact us beforehand. They are [also] likely to show up on the day of service. We are excited about it.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Mary Liddell will volunteer through Pine Bluff Rising, a comprehensive initiative to improve the quality of life in Pine Bluff. A retired teacher from the Pine Bluff School District, she said the organization is asking churches to participate in the clean-up.
“Nine churches signed up to help from various spots in Pine Bluff,” Liddell said. “We have asked Clean and Beautiful [Commission] to provide vests for volunteers this year. I used to work with [then-]Mayor Debe Hollingsworth and we wore t-shirts. It was suggested we use Clean and Beautiful vests so the public can know we are working for the same goal.”
Liddell said she moved from Little Rock to Pine Bluff five months ago to volunteer her services in Pine Bluff. She said there will be another day of service on Saturday, April 22, that will focus on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus. She estimated 200 to 500 college students have signed up to volunteer on that day.
“We are working as one as Shirley said and doing whatever it takes to clean up Pine Bluff,” Liddell said. “We need everyone in Pine Bluff to get on board with this initiative. I have worked most of the publicity part through Pine Bluff Rising. I am affiliated with the fraternities and sororities.”
Adrian Dhanaraj is the program director of What’s Next Pine Bluff?, a nonprofit civic organization that provides educational enrichment for students. He expects 20 to 25 students to volunteer on March 11.
“The day of service provides a day for students to develop leadership skills through service,” Dhanaraj said. “We have seen our students grow as leaders. We are really excited. This has been a focal point of Mayor Washington’s administration and we are excited to be a part of it.”
Students in What’s Next Pine Bluff? are asked to do one skills or academic program per week and one community service project per week. The day of service coincides with What’s Next Pine Bluff’s mission, Dhanaraj said.
Bronskill can be reached at (870) 730-2004.