Page 37 - July2021

Come Clean
Lodge 7 stages community cleanup at South Shore Community Church to start its new initiative of working with faith-based leaders to improve relationships between residents and the police
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Lodge 7’s cleanup detail mustered so early on Saturday morning, June 12, that several members had to tamp down their standard Friday night relaxation to en- sure getting there on time. As part of the FOP’s increasing initiative to work with local churches to improve relationships between the community and the police, a core armed with rakes, brooms, shov- els, garbage bags and strong stomachs mustered outside the South Shore Com- munity Church at 74th and Yates in 003 to give the neighborhood a bit of a make- over.
Around the corner from the church, full bags of drive-thru restaurant meal wrappers and remnants saturated the front lawn of an abandoned building, along with empty beer cans, discarded undergarments and other clothing. Any dumpster would have looked cleaner or smelled better.
Up and down the blocks, members picked up used paper towels and toilet tissue that appeared to have been defe- cated on. And condoms, too.
It’s a dirty job, but the Lodge has to do it because the Department isn’t doing
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Lodge 7 members came to the South Shore Community Church on June 12 to lead a neigh- borhood cleanup that is part of the FOP’s new outreach to improve relationships between the community and the police.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2021 37