The YMCA of Greater Toronto will celebrate Earth Day by holding our first annual Great Neighbourhood Clean Up on Tuesday, April 22, at 42 Charles Street East in downtown Toronto. Staff, volunteers and members will gather in the back parking lot at 11 a.m. and head out with garbage bags to clean up litter from local streets and park areas, making the neighbourhood a cleaner and healthier place to live, work and play.

In addition, the students of the YMCA Academy have put together an Earth Day art exhibition that is on display in the foyer of 42 Charles St.

Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. senator, as a way to raise awareness of and place environmental issues onto the national agenda.  In 1990, Earth Day went global with 200 million people from 141 countries participating.

Earth Day is now widely celebrated around the world as a collective expression of public will to create a sustainable society. Earth Day activities educate and mobilize people worldwide for environmental protection. It inspires action on personal, community, national and international levels.

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is committed to environmental stewardship and we are proud to do our part. We wish everyone a happy, clean and safe Earth Day.