Volunteers prepare to clean up downtown Portland
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Ryan Buchanan, a co-organizer of We Believe in Portland, addresses a crowd at Pioneer Square in April. Photo: Courtesy of Evan Luecke
On Friday, a group of Portland business leaders, employees and residents will descend on Pioneer Square with gloves, grabbers and trash bags in hand to pick up litter across 400 downtown blocks.
Why it matters: The idea for We Believe in Portland started 18 months ago when co-organizers Carling Leon and Ryan Buchanan noticed a lot of "negative talk" among the business community surrounding downtown's challenges.
- "We can come together and we can do something good instead of complaining," Leon, a third-generation Portlander, told Axios.
The big picture: This week's cleanup event is expected to draw over 1,000 people from 170 local businesses — including employers like Wieden+Kennedy, Tillamook Creamery, utility provider PGE, U.S. Bank, the Portland Timbers and more — doubling in size compared to the inaugural event a year ago.
- Some mayoral and city council hopefuls have also signed up to participate, Buchanan said.
Between the lines: Buchanan, the co-founder of digital agency Thesis, and Leon, a community relations consultant, took advantage of an existing relationship with non-profit Adopt One Block and elected leaders for operational support and to expand the event's reach.
How it works: The cleanup spans across 20 "zones" stretching from downtown to the Pearl District and the Brewery Blocks to Old Town.
- Volunteers receive T-shirts with the "We Believe in Portland" logo, cleaning supplies, such as garbage bags, gloves and grabbers, plus coffee and pastries to fuel up before fanning out to their assigned zone.
- For two hours, volunteers will then pick up litter ranging from plastic food containers and paper cups to cigarette butts and an occasional fentanyl foil wrapper.
Afterward, participating companies are encouraged to take their teams to a local restaurant for lunch. "We all know those downtown restaurants were hit especially hard, so we wanted to make sure we patronized these areas," Leon said.
If you go: Anyone is welcome to sign up to participate in Friday's free event. Registration closes Thursday night.
What's next: Buchanan said they plan to host two cleanup events annually, in April and September.
- But, in the future, they are open to expanding to other neighborhoods beyond downtown and including other civic engagement activities, like planting trees, and entertainment elements, like live music.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct that litter cleanup will occur across 400 downtown blocks (not 55).