An American football player is being praised for helping to heal a wounded community, after his tweet brought a group of volunteers to downtown Phoenix to clean up the city.
After being dismayed to see how peaceful protests turned destructive in his city last weekend, Marquette King put out a call to action on the social media platform.
“I’m gonna be in Downtown Phoenix at 10ish with gloves and trash bags cleaning up the city. All races are welcome to come clean the city with me. Officers should come too. Let’s get to know each other.”
Phoenix isn’t the only city where volunteers have come out to clean up. In Seattle, a group of dedicated citizens of all ages got together to do the same.
Mayor Jenny Durkan praised those who showed up to help, telling King 5, “What I love to see here is so many people coming downtown to help. To help clean up, to remove graffiti, to reclaim the city that they love. That’s the spirit we have to be about going forward, is people coming together and find a way to really acknowledge the challenges that we have, make them better, but still love our city.”