East Midtown Partnership Marks Tenth Anniversary of Collaboration With the Doe Fund and the Department of Sanitation To Clean East Midtown Streets

Celebrates by Collecting 'Millionth Trash Bag' From East 57th Street and Lexington Avenue

New York, NY (PRWEB) April 19, 2012

Just in time for Earth Day, the East Midtown Partnership “Clean Patrol” cleared its one-millionth litter basket on Wednesday morning. The event coincided with the tenth anniversary of cooperation between the East Midtown Partnership, The Doe Fund, and the New York City Department of Sanitation to keep the streets of East Midtown clean and safe.

Those in attendance to help mark the milestone included: Commissioner John Doherty, of the NYC Department of Sanitation; Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth DeLeon of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS); Rob Byrnes, President of the East Midtown Partnership; George McDonald, Founder and President of The Doe Fund; as well as several members of the East Midtown Partnership cleaning crew.

Commissioner Doherty said: “I want to congratulate the East Midtown Partnership as it celebrates its anniversary, marking the use of the millionth litter bag. Today, we are also celebrating the close and fruitful partnership between this Business Improvement District and the Department of Sanitation. New York City BIDs are one of the Department's greatest partners, and their efforts truly make a difference in helping keep the city clean and beautiful.”

The East Midtown Partnership has collaborated with The Doe Fund for sanitation services since April 1, 2002. The Doe Fund helps meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism. Over the past decade thousands of trainees have graduated from The Doe Fund and gone on to productive, full time employment. More than 800 have participated in the East Midtown Partnership's Clean Patrol.

“During the past decade, The East Midtown Partnership has been an instrumental partner in providing our clients a chance to provide for themselves and to rediscover the joy in an honest day's work,” said Mr. McDonald, Founder and President of The Doe Fund. “Together, we have helped make New York not only a cleaner, but a kinder and more compassionate city.”

“We are honored to be reaching such a milestone in our district and must acknowledge the hard work put in by the trainees from The Doe Fund,” said East Midtown Partnership president Rob Byrnes. “Reaching our millionth trash bag is a testament to the East Midtown Partnership's mission to make our community a better place to live and work. Onto the next million!”

The East Midtown Partnership Clean Patrol has removed more than 13 million pounds of litter from local city sidewalks since 2002; over 2,800 instances of graffiti and thousands of illegal posters have been removed, and crosswalks have been made passable through several blizzards.

As one of the largest of New York City's 67 Business Improvement Districts, the East Midtown Partnership covers all or part of 48 blocks of Midtown Manhattan. The organization is funded through an assessment on commercial property owners and managed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of property owners, business owners, residents, and community stakeholders.

For more information on the East Midtown Partnership and a map of the district please visit http://www.eastmidtown.org

For more information on The Doe Fund, please visit http://www.doe.org.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/4/prweb9418116.htm