Written by Emma Desiderio for The Argo

Students, organizations and Atlantic City residents came together to clean up the city for Stockton’s Atlantic City Community Day on Saturday. Volunteer projects ranged from trash cleanups to flower planting. The day concluded with a party in O’Donnell Memorial Park, complete with live music, local food trucks, and activities.

The event kicked off at 8:30 a.m. with registration, check-in, and breakfast before volunteers headed off on Stockton shuttles to various cleanup locations across all six wards of Atlantic City. Volunteers were provided with trash bags, gloves, and other equipment to pick up trash. Students collected trash both on the beach and on the streets.

Students from a variety of organizations volunteered, including the field hockey team, the Carribean Student Association, several Greek life organizations, and more.

Nonprofit Chelsea Economic Development Corporation (EDC) led one volunteer project to plant flowers in repurposed planters and remove graffiti in the Chelsea neighborhood. The volunteers planted flowers outside of the iconic Atlantic City restaurant, Tony’s Baltimore Grill.

Stockton student and Chelsea EDC volunteer Tiffany Giang said one of the main focuses of the project was to give back to the neighborhood.

“There’s a lot of negative perception, so we’re doing what we can to change that visually,” said Giang, an Atlantic City resident. She also said that the residents and business owners agreed to help take care of the flowers in the neighborhood.

After the projects concluded, volunteers met in O’Donnell Memorial Park to eat, enjoy live music, and browse local vendors.