Cleaning up Rochester, One Neighborhood at a Time

By Maggie Fitzgibbon

Litter. Unfortunately, it’s everywhere.

The Walking for Rochester organization aims to eradicate this problem and educate people on the benefits of caring for their community.

Matt Apple, the CEO and one of the three co-founders of Walking for Rochester, shares how this group came to be.

“In 2017, I had meetings with friends to discuss the idea of developing an organization that would focus on making a change by cleaning up our community,” Apple explained. “When the pandemic hit and many people were unemployed or working from home, this was an opportunity for people to get out of the house and volunteer to clean up neighborhoods.”

Together three like-minded individuals, Apple, Michael Carroll and Zakary Martinescu, set out to make a change for the better. Walking for Rochester was incorporated in 2020 as a 501(3)(c) organization. The group takes a systemic approach to how it functions.

Walking for Rochester volunteers celebrate after a community cleanup.

Walks are held twice a week, weather permitting, from April until Sept. 30. Volunteers meet at an assigned location, register and sign a waiver before walking. Each person has gloves, grabbers, buckets and garbage bags. Walkers are encouraged to log in to the Walking for Rochester mobile app to verify and track volunteer hours.

“Community cleanups take place for about one hour. You can volunteer for one hour or attend as many of our scheduled clean-ups that fit your schedule,” Apple said.

At least two local businesses sponsor each community cleanup. Each sponsor provides monetary support and gift cards. The gift cards are raffled at the end of each cleanup. Monetary sponsorships and other donations help finance the cost of protective equipment and other organization needs, such as the development and maintenance of the Walking for Rochester mobile app.

Community cleanups currently focus on the city of Rochester neighborhoods.

Apple explained the reason.

“Our efforts are concentrated on the greatest areas of need, primarily the southeast area. However, we are planning to expand our areas,” he said.

What happens to this collected trash? A partnership with the city of Rochester makes trash disposal easy. City sanitation workers are helping to keep the community clean by picking up the trash collected at the Walking for Rochester community cleanups.

Corporate cleanups and volunteer programs are also programs that Walking for Rochester offers. Both operate similarly to community cleanups. A corporation or business organizes a group of employees to volunteer to clean up trash in a neighborhood or area. Walking for Rochester provides and delivers the equipment and waivers for each volunteer to sign. Hours worked are tracked via the Walking for Rochester app. Unlike community cleanups, any trash collected must be properly disposed of by the business organizing the cleanup.

The Volunteer Program functions much the same but is geared toward individuals or groups and is available year-round. The required gear and waivers are delivered and hours worked are tracked via the mobile app.

“You can volunteer on your own or in a group. It’s all up to you. We ask that you contact our office to inform us where we can deliver the equipment. We request that all volunteers log into the mobile app before and after to record the hours worked. The mobile app tracks volunteers via GPS,” Apple said. “This is a great program for a high school or college student who needs volunteer hours or a community group or neighbors that wants to clean up a local park or neighborhood.”

Rochester resident Isabella Susino began volunteering for Walking for Rochester when she moved to Rochester in 2021.

“I was looking on Reddit (a social news and forum website where users can share and view content like links, text, images and videos) for things to do in my neighborhood. I saw that Walking for Rochester had posted an upcoming event and I participated in a community cleanup,” Susino explained.

She was interested in learning more about Walking for Rochester, so she researched this group, found the website and explored how she could become more involved.

“I wanted to better find my way around the city, make friends and connections. I saw the Walking for Rochester advertisement for a social media coordinator. I applied, spoke to Matt Apple and was hired,” Susino said. “My responsibilities included implementing social media practices and boosting the Walking for Rochester social media presence.”

In January of 2022, she became a board member for Walking for Rochester and took an active role in marketing, and promoting the organization. Volunteering for Walking for Rochester is a great way to give back to the community, Susino said.

She encourages anyone to join Walking for Rochester.

“You can come to a community cleanup and meet so many people. Everyone who is involved with this organization truly cares about our city, the environment and community members,” she said. “We are not just a nonprofit; we work to foster a sense of community. It’s so important that we take care of the environment in which we live. I believe that if we take care of the earth, then the earth will take care of us. I genuinely live by this philosophy.”

Apple is proud to report that the efforts of the Walking for Rochester’s volunteers have proved successful.

“On one community cleanup in early August, we collected almost 40 pounds of litter and we have collected over 1,110 pounds of litter per early August,” he said.

 

Want to Help?

Interested in learning more? Follow Walking for Rochester on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit or LinkedIn. Download the Walking for Rochester app via Google Play or check out the website at walkingforrochester.org.