Greater Harrisburg Realtors® Hold Community Clean Up Day

Realtors® from the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors® partnered with Love the Hill on Friday, Sept. 25 for a Community Clean Up Day to beautify the community. Love the Hill is an inner-city initiative of Wildheart Ministries for one of Harrisburg’s most economically depressed neighborhoods, Allison Hill.

More than 20 Realtors® pitched in to spruce up an overgrown lot in Allison Hill, creating a community garden and resource for the area. Realtors® from Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Century 21 Realty Services, Help U Sell Detwiler Realty, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Keller Williams Realty, NextHome Capital Realty, RE/MAX 1st Advantage and RE/MAX Realty Professionals, along with GHAR staff, all committed to making a positive impact in the Harrisburg community.

Volunteers planted flowers, mulched, prepared flower beds in the community garden and picked up trash around the local community. The community garden will serve as a gathering area for residents, providing healthy organic vegetables to the community and promoting health and nutrition for Allision Hill residents.

The funding for the GHAR Foundation project was made possible by a PAR Century of Service grant, which allows local Realtor® organizations to help make a difference in their communities during the state association’s 100th anniversary. Through the Century of Service grant from PAR, the GHAR Foundation was able to provide the funds for Wildheart to purchase a new community grill to use for their quarterly block parties, community rallies, community-wide worship nights and bi-weekly food distribution. The GHAR Foundation also provided funding for the Community Clean Up Day cleaning supplies and the installation of a butterfly mural in the local community.

“It’s so wonderful to have the GHAR Foundation partner with Wildheart Ministries and their Love the Hill cleanup project,” said GHAR member Delina Zook. “We are so grateful to have the opportunity to serve the community and have a part in the positive impact happening in Allison Hill. Picking up trash and planting gardens is more than just community beautification. It builds hope and momentum for positive change. Investing in the betterment of our communities is what Realtors® do. It’s who we R.”

Wildheart’s Love the Hill initiative is focused on restoring and beautifying the neighborhood, while empowering its residents to break the chains and cycle of poverty. Since 2017, Love the Hill has removed 1.8 million pounds of trash, boarded up 71 abandoned structures, installed 160 planter boxes from the help of 1,494 volunteers and 27,905 volunteer hours.