Volunteers making a difference in Watervliet

WATERVLIET, N.Y. (NEWS10) — During these tough and unprecedented times, many are going out of their way to spread some positivity.

Whether it’s street sweeping, debris cleaning, even painting, a group of Watervliet residents and volunteers are making a difference in an effort called “Keep ‘Vliet Neat.”

One founder of the project, Tim Cavanaugh, said he was looking at the city and noticed it was short staffed, streets were overgrown, curves were dirty and houses needed some attention. Facebook was immediately his best friend as he went looking for help.

The first project was 19th street at an abandoned piece of property. Cavanaugh thought it would be a small amount of volunteers, then 30 showed up. They decided to do the whole business district of 19th street from 2nd ave to 12th ave.

Next came over 70 volunteers moving forward. Cavanaugh says it’s what makes the community special.

“A lot of great people that care about the community. Whether they live here or have ties to the city, people do care about their community and it’s just truly amazing,” Cavanaugh said. “I never thought it would turn out this big, but if you be good to people over the years and you meet a lot of people, that’s what happens.”

Volunteers meet between 3-4 times per-week. Cavanaugh says anything they can do to make a difference is what drives them to do more.

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