When volunteers spent a few days last year cleaning in and outside of the Burns School in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, some experienced something like culture shock upon seeing that Hartford’s schools do not receive equal maintenance. Despite those efforts, more work is needed.

On April 27th the community is invited to help with various projects at the school from 8am-1pm.

Children have requested that their bathrooms be more kid-friendly, so adding stencils to the walls will be one of these projects. The cafeteria needs painting. One wall of it will be covered in special chalkboard paint. Bulletin boards will also need refreshing. Outside, there is work to do in the garden, along with routine removal of litter and overgrown vegetation.

There’s no need to rsvp — just show up. Burns is on the block between Russ, Putnam, Mortson, and Park Terrace.

If you can’t wait that long to get your hands dirty, there are other community building (and cleaning) events planned.

Summer of Solutions will be celebrating the opening of its Wesley Colbert Zion Street Community Garden on April 19th, and how better to celebrate than by doing some raking and digging? The workday from 2-6pm.

This space is on Zion Street between Park and Ward. Summer of Solutions says people should come if they just want to help by preparing gardens, if they want to bring their community group for a large volunteer project, or if they are interested in having a plot in this garden. Plots are free and the organization will provide seeds, soil, and water for those planning to participate in the garden. No need to rsvp for individuals, but they ask that volunteer groups call ahead: (860) 539-7231

Still not dirty enough?

KNOX will provide tools and trash bags for volunteer groups that organize themselves to clean up public locations. In the past groups have removed dozens of bags of garbage and recyclables from areas along the Park River, from sidewalks and streets, and the various parks. Hartford Cleans Up 2013! will take place on April 20, April 27, May 4, and May 11.

Call KNOX at (860) 951-7694 to register. By registering, volunteers can avoid redundancy in areas targeted for cleaning.