August 7, 2013 – River North business leaders are raising money to continue a program that supplements Chicago’s Streets & Sanitation Department to keep River North tidy on weekends.

River North Business Association has sent letters to neighborhood businesses, asking for donations to Street Clean Chicago. The organization, started by RNBA, cleans streets in River North on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. That includes clearing sidewalks of broken glass, cigarette butts, animal waste, signs from light posts, picking up garbage bags, and separating recyclable and non-recyclable materials.

The organization has a board of directors comprised of Art Bryan, owner of The Redhead Piano Bar, Tara Shelegeda, a Harris Bank manager, and Louis Weiss, publisher of Chicago Health magazine.

Doing the actual work is Cleanslate, a Chicago project started in 2005 that provides litter abatement, light landscaping, and snow removal services, as well as temporary jobs to people facing employment barriers.

Since 2005, Cleanslate says it has collected 2,960 tons of garbage.

Photo: A Cleanslate landscaping crew. (Photo obtained from Cleanslate.)

 More info: Sharon Romack, Executive Director, River North Business Association