Youth volunteers citywide participated in the 16th annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day

The Friends of Detroit City Airport have been teaching youths about aviation for more than 30 years and offer day camps to expose young people to the fields of aerospace, aviation, engineering, math, science and technology.

The day camp, Airport 101, also emphasizes the importance of community service.

On Saturday, campers pulled weeds, swept dirt and cleaned up around the Coleman A. Young International Detroit City Airport on the city's east side. They participated in one of more than 150 community events across Detroit for the 16th annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day.

The mission of ARISE Detroit! is to unite groups throughout the community and encourage volunteerism to build a better Detroit.

Neighborhoods Day brought nonprofit organizations, schools and churches together to host community cleanup events as well as vaccination drives, art festivals and school supply giveaways.

“This year, we were happy to receive over 150 registrations from a variety of organizations,” ARISE Detroit! Executive Director Luther Keith said. “Neighborhoods Day is made possible because we have so many organizations big and small participating in every part of Detroit."

The Friends of Detroit City Airport has participated in Neighborhoods Day since the annual day of service started in 2007. The Neighborhoods Day event has been added to the Airport 101 curriculum to teach youths about community service and the importance of maintaining the appearance of their community, said Beverly Kindle-Walker, executive director of Friends of Detroit City Airport.

“Learning about planes and how they run has really been an incredible experience for me. It has given me the opportunity to consider this as a possible career one day," said Kaleb Williams, 17, of Warren. "Cleaning up the airport on Neighborhoods Day is important to me because it allows me to give back and help beautify the facility that has taught me so much."

The Friends of Detroit City Airport partners with the Civil Air Patrol, which was founded in 1941 and meets with youths at the airport on Wednesday evenings for cadet programs and classes on aerospace education.

“Alongside exposure to aviation, we aim to help our kids develop good citizenship," Kindle-Walker said. "Ultimately, by having youth participate in Neighborhood Day we help kids develop a sense of community pride. And pride in one's community is one of the best things we can impart on our young people."

'You have to make it real'

Avrian, Ziya, and Jolie Bradshaw, of Canton, stood between rows of vegetables in a burgeoning garden next to large house on Spokane Street on Detroit's west side.

The sisters, ranging in age from 13 to 15, listened attentively as they stood on patches of dirt and plastic tarps strewn across the fenced-in area.

“What do you see?” board member and longtime volunteer for the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development Sheila Finney, 71, asked.

“More plants?” Avrian Bradshaw, 14, asked with hesitancy.

“What kind of plants?” Finney asked back.

“Weeds!” Ziya Bradshaw, 13, exclaimed.

“Let me see you pull up those weeds,” Finney demanded. “Pull 'em up, come on pull 'em up. Let me see all the weeds you can pull up by the time I count to 30.”

The sisters were three of four participants in the yearly gardening day event hosted by the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The event is held in conjunction with Neighborhoods Day.

The four youths laughed as they rustled through the dirt picking up weeds, one after the other, with worms engraving to the soil, and dirt sprinkling their ARISE! Detroit T-shirts.

“My favorite part is just entertaining and engaging the kids,” Finney said. “When they work, I make them get dirty, because it’s a lot and you cannot be shocked.”

The garden was the shape of a large boot, growing mustard and turnip greens, all kinds of tomatoes, beets, carrots, cabbage and asparagus.

And of course, Brussels sprouts.

“They hate them, but learn how to eat ‘em,” Finney said, laughing.

The institute’s mission is to educate youths and help them reach their highest potential. Finney brings to life what the participants may have had difficulty learning, particularly in the math and science fields.

“You have to make it real,” Finney explained.

Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute and a close friend of the late civil rights hero, has seen gardening day affect her own kids and nephew in a positive way.

“They have learned to be helpful to not only their family, but to the extended community,” Steele said. “They have been eager, you know, to learn other skills. And that's very important as you are going into adulthood.”

The institute has hosted gardening day since Neighborhoods Day began in 2007. The garden has been a source of fresh fruits and vegetables for residents in the neighborhood.

“The organic farming here comes from an effort to take vacant lots and blight and to use it in a constructive way to feed and provide food that is not normally in your neighborhood,” Finney said.

Finney recalls Rosa Parks, co-founder of the institute, as a confident gardener.

“She adored growing her own garden and vegetables, she adored organic, healthy food,” Finney said.

Finney also stressed being in tune with the environment.

“It’s time to feel the butterflies, they're gonna learn how to do that,” Finney said. "... that you can't just keep taking, taking, taking, you have to give back.”

And they did.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ARISE Detroit! held its 16th annual Neighborhoods Day across Detroit.