The MLT Anti-Racist Coalition (MLT ARC) will be co-sponsoring two community clean-up events in the area this weekend. Their efforts are part of a collaboration with Black Coffee Northwest Youth.

A local event is planned to begin March 6 at 12:30 p.m. Participants will meet in Mountlake Terrace at the site of the old Roger’s Marketplace grocery store at 23120 56th Ave. W.

There will also be one March 7 at noon in Shoreline at Black Coffee Northwest coffee shop, 16743 Aurora Ave N.

After meeting up, participants will then walk a route around the area collecting litter and debris.

Planners’ goals for this weekend’s clean-ups are not only to pick up trash, but also bridge divides in a face-to-face setting. The hope is that it can help to make a difference for all members of the community and assist in people coming to greater understandings with one another. Those who also may feel more comfortable observing rather than participating in any direct discussions are also invited to attend.

Ben Hou, one of the coalition’s organizers who helped plan the events, said the message it sends is important: “That we’re trying to make this world a better place.”

Those who wish to help are advised to bring a mask and any supplies they may have such as work gloves, trash-grabbing tools, plastic tubs, wagons, carts or any other work appropriate equipment. People are also welcomed to bring signs of support.

Hou said that cleaning up garbage around the community can help benefit everybody. “Humans, non-humans, regardless of how many limbs we have, what the color of our skin is it’s really transcendental and I think that’s really one of the most beautiful things about that.”

MLT ARC held a similar clean-up event in January as part of its efforts commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The group spent a morning picking up trash in the Town Center neighborhood, around City Hall and Veterans Memorial Park.

Black Coffee Northwest is a Black-owned business in Shoreline. The café’s mission is to help provide work experience for local Black youth and also serve as a collaborative community hub.