Mayor Michelle Wu and the Office of Civic Organizing Announce 2025 Love Your Block Dates

Mayor Michelle Wu and the Office of Civic Organizing (OCO) today announced the 2025 Love Your Block spring cleanups will take place on Saturday, April 5 and Saturday, April 12. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Love Your Block, a program that has mobilized thousands of residents in community-led cleanups to beautify Boston’s neighborhoods. Originally launched as Boston Shines and rebranded in 2015, Love Your Block has become a key initiative for civic engagement in Boston. Over the past decade, the program has empowered residents to take ownership of their public spaces, fostering community pride and connection through hands-on neighborhood beautification projects. These projects include street cleanups, park revitalization, planting flowers, and mulching.

The Love Your Block registration is now open for volunteers to sign up as hosts here. Alternatively, individuals who wish to join an existing neighborhood cleanup as a volunteer can pre-register here. After registration closes on March 3, 2025, the Office of Civic Organizing (OCO) will provide registered volunteers with a list of cleanup sites in their neighborhood that are accepting participants.

“Love Your Block cleanups have been a fantastic way of bringing communities together across Boston and one I have personally enjoyed taking part in,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “For the past 10 years, this program has empowered residents to take pride in their communities by giving them the tools to keep their neighborhoods sparkling. Together we celebrate the start of spring and take ownership of keeping our public spaces beautiful.”

Love Your Block is a national grant program that funds resident-led neighborhood revitalization projects. In 2015, a three year Love Your Block grant was awarded to the City of Boston, which integrated the program as a permanent effort in 2018. Established and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Love Your Block is delivered by the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. Since its founding in 2009, Love Your Block has reached nearly 50,000 community members who have improved nearly 4,000 public spaces.

Cleanups will take place in every neighborhood of Boston over the course of two weekends. The 2025 dates are as follows:

Saturday, April 5: Allston, Brighton, Charlestown, Chinatown, Dorchester, Downtown, Leather District, Mattapan, Mid-Dorchester, North End, Roslindale, South Boston, West End, West Roxbury and Wharf District.

Saturday, April 12: Bay Village, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, East Boston, Fenway-Kenmore, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, Roxbury, and South End.

"Love Your Block is a reflection of Boston's spirit, neighbors coming together not only to care for the places we call home but also to strengthen the bonds that connect us,” said Nathalia Benitez-Perez, Director of the Office of Civic Organizing. “I am deeply grateful for the dedication of our volunteers who work closely with us to keep this tradition alive."

Love Your Block had record participation numbers last year, with more than 2,000 volunteers across 121 sites citywide. After last year’s success, the Office of Civic Organizing is partnering again with Boston Public Library and Boston Centers for Youth & Families to serve as centralized locations where community members can conveniently pick up and return cleanup tools. All participating sites are listed on the Love Your Block page, along with tips on how to host your own Love Your Block cleanup site. Tool collection is scheduled from 9:00-10:00 a.m., with returns to the same location between 12:00-2:00 p.m.

On Friday, April 4, the Downtown Boston Alliance (DBA) will kick off this year’s Love Your Block cleanups with its annual Friday beautification project, marking the official start of the citywide initiative. The DBA coordinates this cleanup, but people can sign up through the City as individual volunteers here.

“For ten years, the City of Boston's Love Your Block event has brought the community together to celebrate the emergence of spring and to take pride in our respective neighborhoods through an annual day of service. The Downtown Boston Alliance congratulates the City on this milestone, and for the leadership of each city official who has supported the ongoing success of this treasured volunteer activity," said Michael J. Nichols, President of the Downtown Boston Alliance. “Further, our organization has been honored to host a volunteer site downtown since 2008, back when Love Your Block was known as Boston Shines, and we look forward to continuing to bring together residents, students and Downtown's business community in support of beautifying our shared neighborhood.” 

"The Codman Square Neighborhood Council and the BOLD Teens have participated in Love Your Block for all of the years that it has been Love Your Block and before that with Boston Shines. We truly appreciate the resources and energy this city initiative brings to our neighborhood,” said Cynthia Loesch-Johnson of Dorchester. “It has helped us to take care of both Codman Square Park and the Dr. Loesch Family Park over the decades. Residents of all ages look forward to this event each year where they get to clean, paint, plant and beautify our neighborhood parks and have the support of the city in doing so."

The Office of Civic Organizing will provide volunteers with cleanup tools including trash bags, gloves, brooms, rakes, trash pickers and a Love Your Block t-shirt. Hosts leading a cleanup can request tools until Friday, March 3 at 5:00 p.m. here.

“The Community Engagement Cabinet is thrilled to celebrate 10 years of our city’s Love Your Block initiative,” said Brianna Millor, Chief of the Community Engagement Cabinet. “This initiative inspires Boston residents, community leaders, and volunteers each year to think about a street, local park, or neighborhood that could use some extra care. Together, we collaborate to beautify Boston, one block at a time.”

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF CIVIC ORGANIZING

The Office of Civic Organizing is committed to collaborative partnerships and programs that promote engagement, awareness, and service in communities throughout the City of Boston.