ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Despite the rain, many folks stopped by for Nine Pin Cider Works Annual Warehouse district cleanup. The owners of Nine Pin Cider Works started the cleanup initiative in 2015 in recognition of Earth Day, and other local businesses in the area have also chipped in since then.

Sonya del Peral is the cofounder and coowner, and she says that the area continues to transition. “And [it’s becoming] a very exciting and vibrant area of Albany,” she said. “But, it accumulates garbage. There’s a wind tunnel. Garbage flies through here, and we wanted to do something about it.”

Their neighbor was so excited about the cleanup they decided to lay grass seeds where there was once just mud. So every year since then, neighbors, friends, and even new faces stop by to help them.

Brian Gonyeau’s wife is a part of the Albany Knicks Rugby Club. When the team decided to come volunteer, he decided to ask his friends to help with the cleanup.

This was a last-minute decision for the Baxter family, but they wanted to bring the whole family to help out. “We’re spectators of the rugby. We like to come to watch the rugby,” Karen Baxter said. “We figured this would be good for the kids to come out and clean up for a day.”

Her husband, Brendan Baxter, says he was excited to have the kids learn more about community service along with Earth Day. “They’ve been learning a lot about it in school,” he said. “It’s good to put it into action.”

Jack Leamy’s father owns the Beer Garden, another local business in the warehouse district.
“He really wanted to volunteer,” he said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!'”

Last year, there were over 70 people who showed up to help. Sonya del Peral says that she expects that number to only increase and hopes many will return. “What’s really exciting is to see some of the same faces every year come and help out.”