We were given two great opportunities to organize neighborhood events this month. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) hosted a conference in Pittsburgh on October 9, opening up a tremendous chance for us to recruit student volunteers enthusiastic about the environment. The event led us to work with a new neighborhood, the Northside, because of its proximity to the event venue and because of its rich history that we wanted to show off to students new to the area. They accomplished twice as much as we thought they would, reaching almost 70 houses.
Previous work with the Friendship community groups allowed us to plan a last-minute Halloween blitz in the neighborhood. Costumed volunteers went “reverse trick-or-treating” as they knocked on doors on October 31, giving their neighbors bags of goodies. Despite rainy, cold weather, blitzers gave out over 100 bags in two hours. This Halloween blitz will be the last for the year, bringing us to five neighborhood blitzes this year!