Celebrate Earth Day with the nonprofit Empowerment Factory in cleaning up the two-mile Baldwin Loop Walking Path in Pawtucket’s Woodlawn neighborhood beginning at noon on April 20, 2024. Volunteer participants in teams will pick up trash, clean up gardens and make notes of where trees might be planted in the future.

Gloves and bags will be provided, but people can bring their own to make sure there’s enough for everyone. Snacks will be provided. Masks and social distancing are encouraged. All ages and abilities are welcome.

The Empowerment Factory’s mission is to positively impact the community, giving children the skills they need to lead happier, healthier and more empowered lives. Focusing on creativity, self-esteem and civic pride, its project-based approach encourages individual thinking, peer interaction, teamwork and creativity. Since 2014, 3,700-plus urban youth have benefited from 34 after-school clubs and 11 summer programs.

Programs include Creative Squad, combining literacy, Social Emotional Learning, environmental education and creative projects; Trash to Treasures, making art from recycled materials; and Reading Makes a Difference, encouraging reading while teaching about empathy with children reading and earning books and dolls that are given to young cancer patients at hospitals that has also expanded into other creative projects.