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5 Things You May Not Know About Scranton City Pride

We’re gearing up for one of our largest spring projects, Scranton City Pride! An annual tradition in the Electric City, Scranton City Pride is a joint partnership between Scranton Tomorrow, NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania, and United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania (UNC).

The program includes clean-ups, plantings, beautification projects, and an innovative and fun competition between community teams ― Garbage Olympics! Projects will be held throughout the city from May 27 through June 7. As we prepare to keep Scranton beautiful this spring, here are 5 things you may not know about Scranton City Pride:

Scranton City Pride Graphic -- Textg reads: "City Pride: Scranton Tomorrow, United Neighborhood Centers, Neighborworks" — Graphic courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

1. If Scranton City Pride was a person, they would be a Millennial

You might be surprised to learn that Scranton City Pride was one of the first initiatives Scranton Tomorrow created when it was founded more than 30 years ago. Clean-ups and plantings were organized in the mid-1990s to spruce up city streets and sidewalks, parks and greenspaces after long, snowy winters. With support from community volunteers, city officials and members of the business community, the project grew to become an annual spring tradition. In 2021, NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania joined the cause as an official partner, allowing us to offer a bigger and better City Pride project list. In 2023, the program flourished even more as we welcomed United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania (UNC) to the team. What a great trio!

Graphic chart depicting stats from Scranton City Pride's 2024 cleanup efforts. Text reads: "4,188 participants / 57 projects / 2,190 service hours / 3,600 lbs. of trash collected" — Graphic courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

2. When Scrantonians commit to a cleaner city, the results are huge

City Pride volunteers leave their mark everywhere they go. We see cleaner, more inviting streets, sidewalks and community spaces in every section of the city after the program. In 2024, 4,188 people donated 2,190 volunteer hours to complete 57 projects and remove 3,600 pounds of trash from city streets. Look out litterbugs!

A group representing Scranton City Pride, Neighborworks and Scranton Tomorrow pose in front of the Scranton Tomorrow office. — Powered by volunteers, Scranton City Pride helps to keep Scranton beautiful every spring. Steve Ward, Safe, Clean, Green & Design Program Manager at Scranton Tomorrow, is shown with a volunteer group at a past event. Photo courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

3. We keep it fresh (pun intended) with new projects all the time

In addition to traditional clean-ups, past City Pride programming has included rain barrel workshops, creation of Little Free Libraries, innovative recycling projects, a self-guided floral tour in Downtown Scranton, and more. Many of these programs, including the floral tour, will return this year. In addition, Steve Ward, project manager of Safe, Clean, Green & Design programs at Scranton Tomorrow, will work with volunteers to plant a sensory garden in the Downtown Business District. Plants in sensory gardens are chosen for their unique texture and scent instead of their color or bloom. “It engages people on different and deeper levels,” Ward said.

Graphic depicting long handled pincers for picking up garbage and a torch and olive branches. Text reads: "Garbage Olympics" — Graphic courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

4. People of all ages and abilities can join the cause

With Scranton City Pride, you can choose your own beautification adventure! Work on an existing project or design a project of your own. If you like to garden, sign up for a planting program. If you like to paint, volunteer to fight blight and paint over graffiti. If “speed cleaning” is how you roll, register for Garbage Olympics and compete to see who can pick up the most trash in a 2-hour period ― Team Pine Brook, hosted by UNC, or Team West Scranton, hosted by NeighborWorks. You can join Scranton City Pride as an individual, group, or business, and if you are a homeowner, you can register a project at home or on your street. Once approved, we’ll supply with you with garbage bags and gloves to get the job done.

A man stops for a photo while volunteering at a clean up event for Scranton City Pride in a wooded section of Scranton, PA. — Gerard Hetman, Community Development Specialist, NeighborWorks Northeastern PA, pitches in at Scranton City Pride. Photo courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

5. This is a great way to make friends

It may seem counterintuitive to think that you could bond over a beautification project, but we see it happen every year. When you volunteer for a cause you believe in, you work with like-minded people you may not otherwise meet. Whether you’re building service hours for a school or work program, or in the throes of competition during Garbage Olympics, great memories, and great friendships, are made at these events.

Learn More

We can’t wait to see you out there, rakes in hand, garbage bags filled! To learn more about how you can get involved in Scranton City Pride, visit scrantontomorrow.org and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

*Featured image (top): Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County volunteer at Scranton City Pride. Photo courtesy of Scranton Tomorrow.

Scranton Tomorrow

Author

Scranton Tomorrow serves the Scranton community as a non-profit, non-partisan economic development organization. Scranton Tomorrow spearheads business development projects and quality-of-life initiatives in the Downtown Scranton Business District and throughout the City of Scranton.