by KYW's John McDevitt
 
The mayor of Philadelphia was honored on Wednesday morning at a corporate leadership breakfast in center city.

Under a banner that read  "Volunteer. Be the change," mayor Michael Nutter received the "Spirit of Philadelphia" award from the nonprofit organization Greater Philadelphia Cares for his work in bringing renewed enthusiasm to the city. 

The mayor talked about a massive clean-up of the city last month (see related story):

"We were trying to get 10,000 people to be involved and pick up a million pounds of trash, and we ended up with 15,000 people and 2½ million pounds of trash.  The 'Keep America Beautiful' organization, a national organization, has deemed our one-day citywide clean-up the largest  clean-up effort of its kind in the history of the United States of America. That happened right here in Philadelphia (applause)."

Businesses, community organizations, and schools working together to make Philadelphia a great city were also recognized, including members of the Duckrey Elementary School's North Philadelphia All-Star Choir. Its members give up lunchtime to practice.