Residents from all 10 wards of Aurora gathered over the weekend for a community clean-up event. Vivana Vargas, a participant from the 5th Ward, emphasized the value of involving everyone. “We are from the 5th Ward, and I want to teach the kids to participate in the community,” Vargas said. She, along with her two sons, registered for the event at Water Street Mall in downtown Aurora. As a realtor, Vargas aims to impart lessons of social responsibility and community involvement to her children.
This was the second community-wide clean-up initiative organized by the city this year. The effort kicked off at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at Water Street Mall, where volunteers picked up supplies and met their clean-up teams. Jon Zaghloul, the director of communications for the city, spoke about the high expectations for this follow-up event. It was first launched in the spring of 2026 as a collaboration between the mayor’s office and the community engagement division. The goal was to unite the community for neighborhood beautification across all 10 wards of Aurora.
Zaghloul noted that while each ward typically holds individual clean-up events, there had not been a citywide effort before. “This is the second event and it’s a great opportunity to bring out the entire community to work together on one specific day and clean up all 10 wards,” he said. He highlighted the importance of the event as a way for residents to connect and unite around a common goal of cleaning and beautifying their neighborhoods.
Kathy Torres from the 1st Ward participated in the Saturday event, driven by a sense of pride in her community. “We have to have pride and take care of it,” she remarked, underscoring the importance of maintaining community cleanliness. Torres shared that meeting others from her ward was an additional benefit, something she was looking forward to.
Mike Donato, although a Palatine resident, works for the Aurora Fire Department and joined the clean-up efforts. “I work here and wanted to participate,” Donato explained. “It’s about pride in the city. I love working here and want it to look nice.” He expressed his desire to contribute to maintaining the city’s appearance.
The community clean-up drew together people from various backgrounds, all united by the common cause of improving their city, fostering a sense of pride and community connection in Aurora.