LEWISTON – The fifth annual Twin Cities Community Cleanup, a spring cleaning of Lewiston and Auburn parks, streets and open spaces, will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 28. The rain date is Saturday, May 5.

Volunteers who wish to help clean parks in Auburn should meet at Festival Plaza. In Lewiston, the cleanup will begin in Railroad Park.

Volunteers will pick up cleaning supplies and be directed to parks around the Twin Cities. Those wishing to clean at the Androscoggin River Preserve should meet at its entrance at 11 Tall Pines Drive (near Marden’s).

Participation by area students, Boy and Girl Scout troops, church and civic groups, families and other concerned members of the public is encouraged.

As in previous years, volunteers will clean city parks and along public walkways. Also this year, there will be a special cleaning of the Androscoggin River Preserve, a 14-acre parcel at the end of Tall Pines Drive in Lewiston. This parcel was recently purchased by the land trust from the city of Lewiston to hold in stewardship for the recreational use and enjoyment by residents of both cities. Eventually, the preserve will be home to part of a longer trail system following the shore of the Androscoggin.

With funding from Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the Lewiston Police Athletic League, the first 200 volunteers will receive commemorative T-shirts. Other corporate supporters of the cleanup are the Sun Journal, Pepsi Bottling Group and Poland Spring Natural Spring Water.

The Community Cleanup is sponsored by L/A Trails and the Androscoggin Land Trust, in conjunction with the Lewiston Recreation Department and the Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, in an effort to beautify the city and foster community pride and volunteerism. The cleanup also has a positive environmental impact, since it removes litter so that it will not be carried by storm water runoff into the Androscoggin and other waterways.

For more information, call the Auburn Parks and Recreation Department at 784-0191; the Lewiston Recreation Department at 782-5951; or the Androscoggin Land Trust at 782-2302.