PITTSTON – The City of Pittston will be rolling out two new platforms, the Pride in Place Award and the Neighborhood Ambassador Program, in April. Both programs will work hand-in-hand on bolstering pride in the city. The Pride in Place program will offer monetary prizes throughout the year.
“When residents are presented a Pride in Place Award, they will also receive the opportunity to become a Neighborhood Ambassador, which is a voice in the neighborhood or community that can spread the word about what’s going on in the city and the Downtown Pittston Partnership such as community cookouts and volunteer opportunities, for example,” Cara Wengen, City of Pittston Community Development specialist, said. “This is very exciting and a great way for people to connect together.”
When a resident becomes a Pride in Place Award winner, in order to be considered to be a Neighborhood Ambassador, the winner will receive a Neighborhood Ambassador application form to be sent back to Wengen at cwengen@pittstonrda.com or mailed to Cara Wengen, 35 Broad St., Pittston, Pa. 18640.
Once chosen as a Neighborhood Ambassador, the resident will receive email blasts and text messages from city officials on events and announcements so the could then spread the word in their community.
“The Pride in Place Award is a way to recognize a resident that is putting time and effort into the appearance of their home,” Wengen expounded. “Our idea is to make people understand that we, as city officials, are out there, we see and are noticing them, we see what they are doing and as a reward, they will receive a Pride in Place card with a Lowe’s gift card attached to it.”
The award card, along with the Lowe’s gift card, will be hand delivered by an official of the Office of Community Development.
At the end of the year, all the recipients of the Pride in Place Award will have the opportunity to have their name put in for the Overall Pride in Place Award grand prize of the Overall Pride in Place award that will receive a monetary grand prize, be featured in the City of Pittston newsletter (launching in the coming months), be mentioned on the city’s website as well as social media.
According to Mayor Michael Lombardo, the exact number of Pride in Place awards has not been determined, but he believes it will upwards of 40 awards during the course of the year.
The master drawing at the end of the year will have a Lowe’s gift card valued up to $1,000. Details need to be worked out and finalized shortly, the mayor said.
