Volunteers with Philly Spring Cleanup polish a city ready for spring

PHILADELPHIA - Spring has arrived and with it, the fabled spring-cleaning.

Many long-time residents of Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood are taking spring-cleaning to another level.

They're picking up needles and trash off the streets and inside parks, with the help of city workers.

Raphael Feliciano is a former chef and the tongs he uses to clean his Kensington neighborhood of discarded syringes and needles are a giveaway. Now, the community activist and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation employee spends his time cleaning the community he grew up in, one needle at a time.

"I'm 42-years-old. I have old-school ways and I want to bring old-school traditions to the youth to show they can clean their community and fix it up and become a member of society that can actually help," Feliciano says.

Raphael, joined by volunteers from the city agencies, nonprofits and churches for the 12th annual Philly Spring Cleanup event from Kensington's Hope Park to the Schuylkill River trail, collecting trash to gardening to planting. Polishing a city ready for the season.

"A clean city is a great city and a safe city, so we want residents to understand the challenges we deal with when a neighborhood is trash filled," states Commissioner Carlton Williams.

This is all about hard about hard work and heavy lifting. Volunteers cleaning up the green spaces like parks, but also volunteers in the street, cleaning up trash and debris. They hope to inspire city residents and folks to keep the city clean every other day of the year.

For more information on where and how to volunteer, click here.

Thousands of city residents and visitors enjoy Philadelphia's beautiful public spaces every day. We need volunteers year-round to help keep our green spaces enjoyable for everyone! Learn how to volunteer ➡️ https://t.co/LeitK3F3YD pic.twitter.com/78mvW2HIF4

-- Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (@PhilaParkandRec) April 5, 2019