Business organizations and community leaders work together to reclaim West Cascade

Community Cleanup planned for Saturday, June 21, 2014 to celebrate Juneteenth

For Immediate Release

Dominique Huff

director@southfultonbusiness.com

404-277-5238

SOUTH FULTON, GA.-The Cascade Business and Merchants Association (CBMA), South Fulton Business Coalition (SFBC) and representatives from Neighborhood Planning Unit Q (NPU-Q) recently met to discuss ways to reclaim the West Cascade Corridor.

The area in question is the corridor from the Atlanta City Limit to Danforth Road.  The groups decided to schedule monthly cleanups starting on Saturday, June 21, 2014 from 8:30am to 2:00pm to pick up trash, clean MARTA bus stops, remove illegally placed signage, trim weeds and make a list of public works issues that need to be addressed.  The staging location is Kroger located at 3425 Cascade Road, Atlanta, Ga. 30331.

Kroger has committed to becoming a community partner by having staff to tend to the bus stops in front of their store and working harder to remove their carts from the right of way.  The company has also sponsored refreshments for the event.  SFBC held a cleanup last fall on the corridor that netted 11 bags of trash and removed 29 illegally placed signs.  CBMA held two cleanups one last fall and one earlier in the spring to keep the efforts going.

The organizations and community leaders all agreed to have monthly strategy sessions on working on a Master Plan that work on improving the beautification that will have a long lasting impact.  The monthly cleanups are just a beginning of everyone reaffirming their commitment to the corridor. 

Juneteenth is an appropriate time to kick this event off given the rich black heritage of the Cascade Corridor and the community leaders who lobbied and worked to attract the merchants and retailers to the corridor over the years. 

“During this historic occasion, it was fitting for the CBMA, SFBC and NPU-Q to come together to reclaim a corridor that we all love,” Dominique Huff, Founder/Executive Director of SFBC said.  “I grew up out here and my family still remains in this community.  All stakeholders have a vested interest in the future of this area.  It’s great to have us all on one page to eliminate duplication of efforts.”

Volunteers are sought out along with gas powered lawn equipment such as weed eaters, lawn movers and leaf blowers.  Community members are urged to bring school supplies to the event for Another Way Out, a non-profit located on the corridor to give to needy school children for the fall.

“This is not just a one time show of force.  We are implementing maximum effort and it will be a way of life for us,” Huff concluded.  “We are asking for patience and support as we start the hard heavy lifting to cleanup and shore up the corridor.”