Hunting Park, an 87-acre area of sprawling green grass, playgrounds, and basketball courts, usually receives a bad rap in the media.

However, a local nonprofit organization called, Hunting Park United, is focused on changing the narrative of Hunting Park and is hosting clean up events, job fairs, and other get-togethers for the community.

The park clean up is annual, and is hosted by Leroy Fisher, the president of Hunting Park United and the facilities director at the Lenfest Center in Hunting Park. For decades, Fisher has been dedicated to changing the tune of the way people view the North Philly area.

He recently announced that one of his efforts to clean up the neighborhood is by hosting a park clean up on April 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

This event is something that Fisher is dedicated to doing, and has been doing so for many years.

“The park is huge, and there's always something during the weekend to put people to work in a responsible and socially distant way,” he said in a recent interview with AL DÍA News.

He added that the organization is looking for volunteers to help clean the historical park.

“They can schedule to volunteer and what we do is the volunteers get a letter saying that they volunteered so if they need credit for school or for community service, they can get it,” he said.

The clean up is sponsored by the Parks & Recreation. They get supplies from them so they can do the clean up, and also make sure the trash is collected.

The reason for this clean up is to get people prepared for Spring, as the park is always packed with people playing sports or having get-togethers during that time of year.

Fisher also announced that the basketball courts will be getting a makeover, thanks to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“We also had a top lock for bikes and bike safety, that was another recent project,” he said.

There are many other events that are also going on in Hunting Park, such as a job fair for people who want to enter the construction workforce.

“There is a lot of construction in our community and we are making sure that there are jobs for people of our community that's gonna be happening on March 18,” he said.

The next day, on March 19, the center is having an expungement clinic.

“With individuals who may have a criminal history record that may need to get expunged, we have that at the Lenfest Center the very next day,” Fisher said.

When discussing the negativity that Hunting Park tends to have, Fisher said it's his goal in life to change the neighborhood's perspective.

“We each try to highlight the issues with the organizations who are coming together and spread positive news,” he said. “People who are not from the neighborhood always try to highlight the negativity but we try to focus on the good.”

Fisher believes the community will heal the more residents put effort into their neighborhood.

“I'm trying to leave a legacy in this community, I'm trying to make a difference where we live, it is very important for me.”