The first community engagement event for the 2012 Rose Festival Court was volunteering to help clean up graffiti in the Central Eastside Industrial District.  It was delightful to work with the 15 amazing young women students who've won the right to represent their schools on the 2012 Court.  Thanks to Marcia Dennis and Dennis LoGuidice of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the Rose Festival, and Rodda Paint's Lis Weller for supporting the activity painting out tags on SE MLK and around 3rd and 4th.

My team: (L-R) Rosie (St Mary's), Carter (Wilson), Mehek (Lake Oswego/Metro), Sade' (Benson), Cassidy (Lincoln). We painted over the tags from the former home of The Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center.  Don't mess with these young women, graffiti vandals!  They look nice, but they care passionately about our community. Once volunteers clean an area, I've found they take ownership of it.