{"id":116007,"date":"2025-04-07T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=116007"},"modified":"2025-04-10T15:48:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T19:48:04","slug":"the-great-american-cleanup-20250503","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/the-great-american-cleanup-20250503\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great American Cleanup &#8211; 5\/3\/2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/public_works_banner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"97\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/public_works_banner.jpg 454w, https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/public_works_banner-300x64.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Great American Cleanup is the nation\u2019s largest community improvement program that Fort Wayne has participated in for nearly 30 years and is coming up on May 3, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>City of Fort Wayne news release:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Keep Fort Wayne Clean, Green and Beautiful<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Join Us for the Great American Cleanup\u2122<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Fort Wayne, Indiana (April 7, 2025) \u2013 The Great American Cleanup is the nation\u2019s largest community improvement program that Fort Wayne has participated in for nearly 30 years. It\u2019s a time when we can show our community pride by lending a hand to clean up littered roadsides, parks, trails and river ways. A clean city makes a difference. With the help of volunteers, Fort Wayne can come together and show how much we care about our community\u2019s neighborhoods and public spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Volunteers are invited to join this year\u2019s Great American Cleanup the morning of Saturday, May 3. Cleanup efforts are a great way to see family, friends, co-workers, classmates, neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations or any other group you can encourage to come out to help. Although it takes only a few hours to clean, it makes a huge difference when a lot of people participate. After the work is done, a volunteer celebration with food, drinks, prizes and live entertainment will be held at Headwaters Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>The City of Fort Wayne will provide groups with garbage bags, gloves, and T-shirts. Volunteers are asked to pre-register at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityoffortwayne.org\/great-american-clean-up\" target=\"_blank\">www.cityoffortwayne.org\/great-american-clean-up<\/a> between today and Friday, April 18. For more information, please call the City of Fort Wayne Solid Waste Department at 260-427-1345 or by email greatamericancleanup@cityoffortwayne.org.<\/p>\n<p>Staff members from the Solid Waste Department will coordinate and assign locations to ensure areas with the most need are addressed, but groups may pick an area of their choice if they have identified a location. The clean-up process will begin between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. on May 3.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, over 3,200 volunteers collected more than 168,000 pounds of litter and debris from neighborhoods, parks, riverbanks and roadsides.<\/p>\n<p>The Great American Cleanup\u2122 is the country&#8217;s largest beautification and community improvement effort.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Related Images:<\/h3><div class=\"ngg-related-gallery\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71709.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry announces call for referendum vote on the gaming issue during a press conference on February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"199\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71709.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71709.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry announces call for referendum vote on the gaming issue during a press conference on February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"199\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71709.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71710.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss after the press conference announcing his decision to seek a referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"200\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71710.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71710.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss after the press conference announcing his decision to seek a referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71710.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71712.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"201\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71712.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71712.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\" data-description=\"Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"201\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71712.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71714.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"City Councilman Tim Pape makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"202\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71714.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71714.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\" data-description=\"City Councilman Tim Pape makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"202\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71714.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71715.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Allen County Councilman Paul Moss makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"203\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71715.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71715.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\" data-description=\"Allen County Councilman Paul Moss makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"203\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71715.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71717.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Former City Councilman Dr. John Crawford and son Grant attended the press conference in which Mayor Henry called for a referendum vote on the gaming issue. Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"204\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71717.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71717.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\" data-description=\"Former City Councilman Dr. John Crawford and son Grant attended the press conference in which Mayor Henry called for a referendum vote on the gaming issue. Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"204\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71717.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2008_11_05_header.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Headwaters Park and the annual parade of colors as seen from the Lincoln Tower Observation Deck.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1675\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2008_11_05_header.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2008_11_05_header.jpg\" data-title=\"2008\/11\/05 - Fall colors\" data-description=\"Headwaters Park and the annual parade of colors as seen from the Lincoln Tower Observation Deck.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2008\/11\/05 - Fall colors\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2008\/11\/05 - Fall colors\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1675\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2008_11_05_header.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_02_12_header.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"The St. Mary&#039;s River and Headwaters Park during February flooding.  Science Central is visible as well as the old freight station at Clinton and Fourth Streets.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1679\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_02_12_header.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_02_12_header.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/12 - St. Mary&#039;s River\" data-description=\"The St. Mary&#039;s River and Headwaters Park during February flooding.  Science Central is visible as well as the old freight station at Clinton and Fourth Streets.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/12 - St. Mary&#039;s River\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/12 - St. Mary&#039;s River\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1679\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_02_12_header.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_03_09_header.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Headwaters Park during the March, 2009, flooding.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1681\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_03_09_header.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_03_09_header.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/03\/09 - Headwaters Park\" data-description=\"Headwaters Park during the March, 2009, flooding.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/03\/09 - Headwaters Park\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/03\/09 - Headwaters Park\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1681\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_03_09_header.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_04_30_header.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Headwaters Park in full bloom.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1692\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_04_30_header.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_04_30_header.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/04\/30 - Headwaters Park\" data-description=\"Headwaters Park in full bloom.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/04\/30 - Headwaters Park\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/04\/30 - Headwaters Park\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1692\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_04_30_header.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85078.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming. Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background. Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1693\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85078.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85078.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming. Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background. Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1693\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85078.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85080.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is on the left and City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1694\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85080.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85080.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is on the left and City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1694\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85080.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85088.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1695\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85088.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85088.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1695\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85088.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85091.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell answers questions from the press. Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1696\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85091.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85091.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\" data-description=\"Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell answers questions from the press. Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1696\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85091.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85094.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner answers a question from the press.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='7c03b076c534b16e90622824abc4f97b' data-image-id=\"1697\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85094.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85094.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\" data-description=\"City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner answers a question from the press.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1697\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85094.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Great American Cleanup is the nation\u2019s largest community improvement program that Fort Wayne has participated in for nearly 30 years and is coming up on May 3, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6562],"tags":[1040,21584,6267,23,1158,150],"class_list":["post-116007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fort-wayne-division-of-public-works","tag-city-of-fort-wayne-division-of-public-works","tag-city-of-fort-wayne-indiana","tag-city-of-fort-wayne-solid-waste-department","tag-fort-wayne-indiana","tag-great-american-cleanup","tag-headwaters-park"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Great American Cleanup - 5\/3\/2025 - AroundFortWayne<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Great American Cleanup is the nation\u2019s largest community improvement program that Fort Wayne has participated in for nearly 30 years and is coming up on May 3, 2025.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/the-great-american-cleanup-20250503\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Great American Cleanup - 5\/3\/2025 - AroundFortWayne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Great American Cleanup is the nation\u2019s largest community improvement program that Fort Wayne has participated in for nearly 30 years and is coming up on May 3, 2025.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/the-great-american-cleanup-20250503\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AroundFortWayne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AroundFortWayne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T16:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T19:48:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/CityofFortWayne_seal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"67slparker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheAFWBlog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheAFWBlog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"67slparker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/the-great-american-cleanup-20250503\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/the-great-american-cleanup-20250503\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"67slparker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/60a1c82ca1de84bb660471939e6393b2\"},\"headline\":\"The Great American Cleanup &#8211; 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