PORTLAND, Ore. — On the bricks at Pioneer Courthouse Square, organizer Ryan Buchanan hands out T-shirts, with the words "We Believe in Portland" to volunteers showing up to help clean up trash in downtown Portland. Along with a T-shirt, volunteers are given buckets, gloves and trash grabbers before heading out.
"Hi, how are you?" Buchanan asks a volunteer showing up to help.
The September 13 trash clean-up event is the third time Buchanan and his team with We Believe in Portland have organized it. He helped found the group about 18 months prior when he had an idea.
"There was just a lot of negative self-talk we've all had in Portland, especially at that time." Buchanan said. "The initial goal was to have about 100 people show up, and it just kind of took off online."
Buchanan said in the inaugural event, 500 people showed up to help pick up trash and litter. Then it was put on again in April 2024, and Buchanan said the size of the volunteer group had doubled. He said the September 13 event saw roughly the same number of volunteers signing up.
"It's just a lot of joy to have so much solidarity and unity of Portland, where I've felt like we've been divided in the past since COVID," Buchanan said.
The small army of volunteers — made up of employees of nonprofits, companies, city workers and leaders — fanned out across the downtown area of Portland, from Goose Hollow, the Pearl District, Old Town, downtown and the waterfront.
"This is people who believe in Portland," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said. "They're coming together because they love this city. They want to do something tangible to help."
Volunteers walked up and down the streets, looking at the curbs and sidewalks for any piece of litter small and large. Their buckets quickly filled with trash.
"I think Portland's getting a bum rap, and it doesn't need to," a volunteer told KGW. "This is a beautiful city, and it's nice to see everyone coming together to make an effort."
PHOTOS: Hundreds of volunteers help clean up downtown Portland
It was a common theme heard from volunteers KGW spoke with: Get Portland back to where it once was and bring the Rose City its unique charm lost in the years following the pandemic.
"Portland is an amazing city," said Gwen Thompson, a city employee with the Portland Housing Bureau. "We want the world to know that. We want to be a part of that. We want to be a part of the recovery of downtown Portland."
One piece of litter at a time, no matter how long it takes.
"We're gonna get there, one cigarette butt at a time," another volunteer told KGW.