Over 40 volunteers from Children’s Minnesota participated in the 25th annual Minneapolis Earth Day Clean-Up event, on Saturday, April 20, sponsored by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the 
City of Minneapolis. From 9:30 am – noon, the Children’s Minnesota team picked up trash and litter at Theodore Wirth Regional Park, the largest park in the Minneapolis park system located West of Downtown Minneapolis.
“Thanks for organizing a group to help,” said Erica Chua, community outreach event coordinator for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. “This is our largest community service project in Minneapolis and we appreciate the many volunteers from Children’s Minnesota.”
At 740 acres, there were many areas to cover for clean up at the park. Trash bags and gloves were provided at the site. Wearing their Children’s Minnesota t-shirts, employees and family members divided into small teams and picked up nearly 30 bags of trash and recyclables. 
“I’m really glad we are here helping out on Earth Day,” said Costa Voulgaropoulos, staff physician in the Diabetes and Endocrine Center in St. Paul. Costa volunteered with his daughter and friend. “At work, I look for ways to reduce waste and recycle more. I’m happy Children’s shares this passion.”
Jim Leste, Children’s Minnesota vice president of support operations, participated in the day with his entire family. “We are definitely going to do more events and activities around sustainability, both at our locations and in the community,” said Jim.