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Page last updated on January 23, 2025 at 1:27 pm

cleanup grant logo, broom in place of the "l"

 

Are you ready for some serious SPRING CLEANING?

Apply for a Neighborhood Cleanup Grant! It's a great community building activity! 

HAND provides trucks or dumpsters to collect items for disposal. Your neighborhood provides volunteers and coordination. During a neighborhood cleanup, neighborhood residents and volunteers are expected to transport items to the staging area. HAND collects the following items for proper disposal/recycling: 

  • trash (not for regular household trash - only items too large to fit inside your City trash cart)
  • recycling (only items too large to fit inside your City recycling cart)
  • tires
  • scrap metal (funds from recycled scrap metal will go back to your neighborhood)
  • hazardous materials (old chemicals, batteries, lightbulbs, oil, etc.)
  • electronics (virtually anything with with a cord or battery-operated, EXCEPT screens larger than 8 inches and appliances with Freon)
  • brush and tree limbs (not for regular yard waste - only brush and limbs too large to fit inside your yard waste receptacle)

 

Unwanted but usable items will be added to a "picker pile" and are free for the taking!

 

Sample cleanup layout showing trash, scrap metal, hazmat, tires, and re-use collection areas
This is a typical staging area setup on a city street. When a parking lot is available, the staging area configuration would be altered slightly.

Annually the HAND Department awards TWO Neighborhood Cleanup Grants to eligible neighborhood groups through a competitive application process. To be eligible to apply in 2025, your neighborhood must be located within the corporate boundaries of the City of Bloomington, and may not have received a cleanup grant in either 2023 or 2024. The application deadline is Monday, March 3, 2025.

 

What makes for a winning application? Demonstrate that

  • your neighbors are organized and committed to a successful cleanup,

  • volunteers have pledged to working specific hours during the cleanup, and

  • communication within the neighborhood is ongoing. 

 

 

Organization of volunteers and participants is the responsibility of the neighborhood. Your application should demonstrate that your neighborhood is

  • COMMITTED,

  • MOTIVATED, and

  • READY TO WORK!

 

HOW TO APPLY

START with these guidelines for step-by-step instructions about the application process. 

 

The 2025 Neighborhood Cleanup Grant application is electronic. You will need a Google account to submit the application. This allows you to upload files, receive a copy of your application, and edit your application after submission. Please read through the application in its entirety before beginning to fill out the electronic form. You must upload two documents within the application form. We recommend that you have these documents prepared and ready for upload before you begin.

 

If your organization is interested in applying for a Neighborhood Cleanup Grant and you need assistance with the application, please contact Angela Van Rooy at 812-349-3505 or angela.vanrooy@bloomington.in.gov.

 

Neighborhood Cleanups may be held on one of the following Saturdays in 2025. Applicants must choose their top two preferred dates. 

  • April 12
  • May 3
  • May 17
  • May 31
  • June 7

 

Neighborhood Cleanup Applications are due on Monday, March 3, 2025.

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Grandview Hills neighborhood cleanup 2024

Broadview neighborhood cleanup 2024

 

Grandview Hills and Broadview neighborhoods were recipients of Neighborhood Cleanup Grants in 2024.

 

 

 

Fritz Terrace neighborhood cleanup 2023

NWS neighborhood cleanup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fritz Terrace and Near West Side neighborhoods were recipients of Neighborhood Cleanup Grants in 2023.

 

 

 

 

Eastern Heights cleanup 2022McDoel Garden Cleanup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eastern Heights and McDoel Gardens neighborhoods were recipients of Neighborhood Cleanup Grants in 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayfair cleanup 2021woodlands cleanup 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayfair and The Woodlands-Winding Brook neighborhoods were recipients of Neighborhood Cleanup Grants in 2021.