Around 50 people gathered in Northern Liberties on Saturday to help clean up the neighborhood and also honor a local woman who had a major impact on the community.
Volunteers spent the morning and afternoon cleaning up and painting the area on Front Street between Poplar and Laurel Streets, the same place where 26-year-old Amber Long was shot and killed last January.
Long, an architect, was shot and killed back on January 26 while she and her mother were walking to their car along the 900 block of Front Street. Police say her killers are still on the loose.
The Northern Liberties Neighbors Association received a $3500 grant to help revitalize the area where Long was murdered.
“Amber’s architecture was helping to make the area more vibrant and we want to continue that and continue to bring light there and awareness,” said Jackie Newell, the event organizer. “We want this area to feel safe again.”
Friends and family also set up the Amber Long Scholarship Fund for students with a passion for sustainable design who enroll in the Architecture program at Philadelphia University, Long’s alma mater.
The event was part of the 7th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup. Volunteers, including Mayor Nutter, cleaned up and removed graffiti and litter from playgrounds throughout the city.
