This community cleanup day brought together more than 200 volunteers from across Qaraqosh, including students, local shop owners, and members of youth and church groups, to address the accumulation of waste in public areas that had gone unattended for months. Organizers divided the town into six zones, each assigned a team leader responsible for coordinating volunteers, distributing gloves and waste bags, and tracking the amount of debris collected. Particular attention was given to the main market street, the area surrounding the town’s central park, and the banks of the seasonal stream that runs along the eastern edge of town, all of which had become informal dumping sites in recent years. In addition to general litter collection, volunteers removed several abandoned construction materials and cleared blocked drainage channels that had been contributing to localized flooding during rainfall. The municipality provided two waste collection trucks to transport the gathered material to the district’s official disposal site, while a local NGO supplied refreshments and small recognition certificates for participating volunteers. Alongside the physical cleanup, a short awareness session was held in the town square, where municipal staff discussed proper waste disposal habits, the dangers of burning garbage, and upcoming plans for installing additional public waste bins across key locations. Several local schoolteachers used the event as an opportunity to bring students directly into civic participation, reinforcing lessons on environmental responsibility through hands-on action rather than classroom instruction alone. The event also served as an informal community gathering, with many residents reporting that it strengthened a sense of shared ownership over public spaces that had felt neglected since the town’s gradual repopulation after years of displacement. Organizers plan to repeat the initiative on a quarterly basis and are exploring partnerships with local businesses to sponsor permanent waste collection infrastructure.