Walking For Rochester Celebrates Record Breaking Cleanup Season and Invites Community to Join!

Rochester, N.Y. — Walking For Rochester (WFR) has officially completed its 2026 Community Cleanup season, closing out the organization’s largest and most impactful year to date. In total, WFR completed 153 cleanup events across the entire City of Rochester, welcomed 1,126 attendees, and removed exactly 12,522.3 pounds of litter. WFR removed more litter in 2026 than its previous cleanup seasons combined since its founding in 2020.

“Our growth is proof that there is a movement across Rochester toward a litter free city. Litter is not inevitable,” said Matt Apple, Co-founder and CEO of Walking For Rochester. “In 2024, we removed about 2,100 pounds. In 2025, it was 5,285. Now, in 2026, we removed over 12,500 pounds. And we accomplished this without the full use of our Litter Elimination System, which will go live at the start of the 2027 season.”

Walking For Rochester’s Litter Elimination System, or LES, represents the organization’s next step from simply organizing cleanups to building a coordinated data driven system for identifying, tracking, and responding to litter throughout Rochester, NY. The system brings together WFR’s cleanup programs with new technology, including its recently launched mobile app and a GIS dashboard currently under development. Together, these tools are intended to identify, track, study, and eliminate litter.

For WFR, the 2026 results provide a glimpse of what could be possible once those LES pieces are fully operating together. The organization plans to enter the 2027 cleanup season with the LES at the center of its strategy and a larger goal in mind: demonstrating that litter is not stronger than community.

“The LES gives us the ability to take this work to an entirely new frontier, but building that system requires resources,” said Apple. “This October, we are asking Rochester to help us raise $20,000 to invest directly into the LES and the future of a litter free city. We have proven what we can accomplish with limited resources. Now we are asking our community to help us build what comes next.”

With the cleanup season now complete, WFR is turning to the public to celebrate what was accomplished, meet the people behind the work, and help support what comes next. WFR will host two community events during October:

1. WFR Volunteer Social Hour

Monday, October 19

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Johnny’s Irish Pub

1382 Culver Road, Rochester

Free Admission

The Volunteer Social Hour is a celebration open to WFR volunteers, supporters, and anyone interested in learning more about the organization. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet the people who helped remove more than 12,500 pounds of litter from Rochester this year, connect with the organization, and celebrate the end of the cleanup season. Johnny’s Irish Pub will also feature a mule drink special during the event, and other exclusive promos.

2. Walking For Rochester’s 5th Annual Fundraiser & Silent Auction

Thursday, October 22

6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

ARTISANworks, Casablanca Room 565 Blossom Road, Rochester

Tickets and Sponsorships: https://go.walkingforrochester.org/2026_wfr_annual_fundraiser_and_silent_auction

Walking For Rochester will then host its Fifth Annual Fundraiser & Silent Auction at ARTISANworks. WFR is encouraging the public not only to attend these events, but to use them as an opportunity to meet the people doing the work and give feedback.

For more information about Walking For Rochester, visit https://walkingforrochester.org