WEED & SEED PROGRAM HOSTS EARTH DAY CLEAN UP

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York James B. Comey announced today that Operation Weed & Seed will host a Bronx Earth Day clean up event. This project is aimed at educating youth about the importance of protecting and preserving the environment.

For the past two years youths 9 to 12 years of age have participated in clean up projects in their neighborhoods, this year however, in honor of Earth Day, participants of the Drug Education for Youth program known as DEFY, the 40th Precinct Youth Explorers and the Bronx Truancy Prevention Program will go outside of their community to express their solidarity in making the Bronx a better place. The youths will rake leaves and remove litter at Knox Gate Park, on Mosholu Parkway North between Jerome Avenue and Gun Hill Road, on Saturday, April 20, 2002 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion is donating gloves and tools, and has enlisted the help of the New York City Parks Department which will provide staff, and supplies and also coordinate the clean up. The New York City Sanitation Department is providing equipment for rubbish removal and the YMCA Americorps School Success Program will provide snacks and refreshments.

Operation Weed & Seed, recognized as one of the most successful programs of its kind in the nation, has over three hundred sites nationwide. Two of which are located in the Bronx. Funding for each Weed & Seed Program site is provided through various entities. The Department of Justice through the U.S. Attorney’s Office provides funding for both sites. The Mott Haven area Weed & Seed site is administered by the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SOBRO) and the Bruckner, Castle Hill, Soundview site is administered by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. Both sites receive direction from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, in addition to various community based organizations, agencies and residents.

Operation Weed & Seed is a federally funded strategy designed to "weed out" criminal elements in a targeted neighborhood, while "seeding in" positive programs for children, adults and senior citizens with a specific focus on law enforcement, community prevention / intervention, treatment and neighborhood restoration.

For more information on this program and others like it, please contact Barbara R. Robles, Program Director of the Bruckner, Castle Hill, Soundview area site at 718-860-4708, or Richard Guevara, Director of the Mott Haven area site at 718-292-3113 ext 251.