SPOKANE, Wash. -- Volunteers are signing up for the annual Cleaning From the Core event, which is set for Saturday. The event kicks off 2015's Spokane Gives Week, which encourages year-round volunteerism.
On Friday, colorful panels were posted on the boarded up windows of the former Otis Hotel in Downtown Spokane. The art was created by students from Cheney and Rogers High School according to coordinator John deRoulet. He said kids from Cheney, Gary and Westwood Middle School also contributed to the panels.
Local Boys and Girls Clubs are working on additional panels to up brighten Spokane.
Volunteers including deRoulet will help clean up Spokane on Saturday too. The projects are scheduled to being around 9:00 a.m. with work wrapping up around noon.
Every year, hundreds of volunteers clean streets, sweep sidewalks and remove trash, take part in plantings, clean up graffiti and more across Downtown.
In 2014, 400 CFTC volunteers helped remove 4,620 pounds of trash. In 2015, the city is planning an even bigger cleanup including the planting of 2,000 new trees along the Spokane River.
The city's Office of Neighborhood Services hosts the event as an effort to clean Downtown in advance of Bloomsday, Hoopfest, and other spring and summer events.
To thank the volunteers, CFTC will host an after party at the Tribal Gathering Place next to city hall with food from local food truck vendors, music, and raffle items.
