Hold a clean up, school supply giveaway, garden planting for Neighborhoods Day in Detroit

It's been 18 years since 50 Detroit organizations hosted the first ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day. This year, ARISE Detroit! Executive Director Luther Keith anticipates 100 to 150 groups will participate. To be a part of that growing number, community organizations should sign up by 5 p.m. Monday.

Neighborhoods Day, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 3, aims to celebrate the people of Detroit through community service and other activities. Community organizations host events on the east and west sides of Detroit, including but not limited to school supply giveaways, trash cleanups, art fairs, music and free food. Keith said he believes that real change happens from Neighborhoods Day.

“Each time someone registers for Neighborhoods Day is a little beacon of hope for the city of Detroit,” Keith said. “They’re saying, ‘I believe in my city. I want to make it better.’”

Keith said Neighborhoods Day is about people, reminding them how special they are, all the while bringing them together.

“You may live on the same block as a person for 10 years and you probably never talked to them," Keith said about people meeting one another on Neighborhoods Day. "They live down the street! I should've been talking to them a long time ago!” Keith said.

Keith said he is now known as the community guy because he has led this event for so many years.

“From the very beginning, if people knew who Luther Keith was, then you would believe in his vision,” said Beverly Kindle-Walker, executive director of Friends of Detroit City Airport. “Which I did at the beginning when he called together community leaders.”

The idea of believing in oneself and one’s community is what keeps Neighborhoods Day going, Keith said.

“There’s no truer statement about Detroit and how people feel about it than a day like this,” Keith said. “Because it couldn’t happen without people believing.”

The whole idea of ARISE Detroit! is about pride, Kindle-Walker said — exhibiting pride in your city and your neighborhood, for yourself and the generations behind you.

For more information about hosting or attending Neighborhoods Day events, go to arisedetroit.org.

Melinda Mei, a Free Press apprentice, is attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: ARISE Detroit! seeks volunteers for annual Neighborhoods Day event.