SOP CLEAN UP PROGRAMS
A Program of South of Penn
A community building project
In Partnership with the SOP taskforce, Barrio is supporting the creation of neighborhood clean ups every third Saturday of the month.
Since its inception, Barrio Alegria decided to go beyond art programming and become a community transformation organization.
With the help of the South of Penn neighbors, we have been able to focus on trash prevention initiatives and have recruited volunteers to help with these initiatives.
After researching best practices from neighboring communities to address this problem, along with community members, we helped draft a plan that includes clean ups, community education, and leadership development components.
The South Of Penn Task force is a group of committed individuals, organizations, and stakeholders that are working to improve quality of life, foster interpersonal relationships with neighbors, and increase home-ownership in the south of Penn are.
Primarily, SOP neighbors living in the focus area, benefit from this program, however, we hope that our program will serve as a pilot for other neighborhoods in the city.
If you would like to participate in a cleanup or get involved in the SOP work please email Tony Veloz at
You can also call us:
484-855-8587
What do arts have to do with cleaning? At the beginning of 2019, as we were planning programs for the year, we decided to frame cleanups within arts programming.
We created a friendly competition between Barrio Alegria and the SOP. As a result, 75 community members showed up to clean up on the first cleanup of the year.
We are currently working on an inter-city competition with Pottstown!
Do I need to
bring cleaning
materials?
The City of Reading's Public Works department will provide cleaning materials, but if you want to bring your own, please do!
Can I bring children to the cleanups?
We encourage families to bring children. Aslong as they are under your supervision, they are great assets to the cleanups!
Can you help me if I want to create my own cleanup?
Yes! Please email Tony Veloz at soprpl@gmail.com. He can connect you with resources, and can give you ideas for you to host your own cleanup!
