Our main focus was the playground of the elementary school. It was mostly fenced in and completely covered in asphalt so the leaves from the trees and the trash from the community had nowhere to go. We raked and swept and shoveled more bags of trash than we could count. As we worked, children from the neighborhood asked if they could help. Side-by-side we cleaned with children as young as five until all the trash was picked up.
After the playground was clean we continued on down the street picking up trash. Some of us were surprised to find so little trash from alcohol, cigarettes or drug paraphernalia. Almost everything we found was from junk food. Candy wrappers, chip bags, soda bottles, juice boxes, snack cake containers and plastic grocery bags.
All down the street neighbors smiled and thanked us. Everyone seemed genuinely glad to have us there. Here's a picture of the ASC group.
Once we got to the end of our project it was awesome to walk back to our cars and see the noticeable difference in the clean street. Ray, the guy in charge, thanked everyone and sent us on our way.
After our service project we went to Tony Jr's for cheese steaks! They were fabulous. A true Philly adventure.
Most of the group had to head back to MD after lunch but the rest of us headed over to the historic district to see the sights.
Ben Franklin's grave.
The Liberty Bell (this was on the way up to the building).
Independence Hall
And last, but not least, the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the kids ran the steps just like Rocky.
