Volunteers from UB, PS #37 Futures Academy and the community will be participating in the 21st annual Fruit Belt Clean-a-Thon, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 5. The event is sponsored by the UB Center for Urban Studies, PS #37 Futures Academy, the Fruit Belt Coalition and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Volunteers are still needed; contact A.S.M. Abdul Bari, program assistant for the Center for Urban Studies, at 716-220-7455 or asmbari@buffalo.edu by May 2, or show up during check-in from 8:30-9 a.m. the day of the event. Volunteers will meet at Futures Academy, 295 Carlton St., Buffalo.

The event typically draws about 100 students, including seventh- and eighth-graders from Futures Academy, and 100 community volunteers each year.

Now in its 21st year, the Fruit Belt Clean-a-Thon aims to teach Futures Academy and UB students about the importance of civic engagement, while building relationships between Futures Academy and the Fruit Belt community.

“Everything we do is designed to show the kids the power of knowledge and to show them how to use what they’ve learned in order to have a positive impact on their community,” says Henry-Louis Taylor, Jr., director of the Center for Urban Studies, part of UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute, and professor of urban and regional planning, School of Architecture and Planning.

The clean-a-thon will cover several blocks of Buffalo’s Fruit Belt neighborhood, between Michigan and Jefferson avenues and Cherry and East North streets. Carlton and Orange streets will be closed during the event.

Teams of volunteers will pick up garbage — the city of Buffalo’s Impact team will collect all the trash — and perform beautification work around Futures Community Garden, including installing planters and signage.

They’ll also work toward identifying innovative ways of maintaining the park through projects like landscaping design in the Center for Urban Studies’ Community as Classroom program, and learning about growing food in the garden, as well as healthy lifestyles through food and nutrition. In addition, Locust Street Art will work with students on creative projects like rock painting.

The cleanup will run from 9 a.m. to noon, with the “Futures Festival” taking place following the cleanup from noon to 2 p.m. The festival will feature games and activities for kids provided by UB’s Office of Government and Community Relations, as well as a community picnic with a free cookout lunch for all volunteers.