EAST PEORIA ( 25News Now ) - People across the Peoria area are meeting up to form friendships and make their community a better place.

Since 2017, Peoria Area Young Adult Social Meetup has been bringing people together from all walks of life to create new relationships while giving back.

On Sunday, a group of around 20 people gathered at the East Peoria Panera Bread to remove trash from the surrounding areas and recycle it.

Peoria Area YASM Director of Volunteer Outreach Alexander Chan said their efforts to improve the environment were inspired by the group’s hiking trips.

“We thought, what can we do to help keep the community clean, help [prevent] some of the plastic that might be sitting on the land for 400 years [from being] someone else’s problem,” he said. “Whether you live in

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