Nu Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

Houston, TX – On Saturday, August 29, 2009, members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. - Nu Phi Chapter, gathered to assist with an event hosted by the local non-profit, Families Under Urban & Social Attack, Inc. (FUUSA), called project Third Ward Community Cleanup. 

This project was an effort to take an area in Third Ward and on a Saturday morning, clean-up the area.  The event was largely made possible through the support of Keep Houston Beautiful, which donated supplies ranging from gloves, to lawnmowers, to safety vests for participants to use during the cleanup and the Houston Texans, whose representatives were on the scene to meet FUUSA’s youth participants and to capture some footage of the event for their ImageNet Program.  The footage will be featured during a special halftime presentation at a Texans game during which a few lucky children will be chosen to take to the field.

We began the day around 8:30 am with a brief fellowship and an informational session that addressed safety issues.  There were more than 85 volunteers who gathered to take part in this project.  During the fellowship and informational session, doughnuts and orange juice were served to get the energy flowing for everyone.  At approximately 9:15, we were gathered into 8 to 9 teams and embarked on a mission to de-litter several city blocks surrounding the non-profit’s main campus located at Elgin and Sampson. 

For the next 3 plus hours, the clean-up effort was in full effect covering several blocks in the area.  The clean-up even included mowing lawns and trimming edges.  The mowing and trimming, which required the use of gas powered machinery, was mainly performed by the members of Omega Psi Phi.  There was also time taken to teach some of the teenage young men the proper ways to use this machinery, so that they would be able to take these newly learned skills back to their own homes and community. 

Around 11:45 am, the Houston Texans had a camera crew taking miscellaneous film footage of the clean-up effort.  The filming went on for roughly 15 to 20 minutes.  The majority of the footage was of the kids participating in this community activity.    

We began to wrap things up around 12:15 so that we could gather everyone and collect all the equipment. 

Sometime around 12:30, we took group pictures and the representatives from FUUSA thanked everyone for their participation, at which time we departed.

The following is a list of brothers who helped make this coordinated effort a success:

Bro. Eaton with his daughter, two young cousins

Bro. Simmons

Bro. Henderson

Bro. Clayton

Bro. Alexander

Bro. Stokes with his daughter

Bro. McGee

Bro. Lawson 

 PICTURES FROM CLEANUP