Butler Hip Hop and Rap Community founder Everett B. Roy, 33, of Saxonburg picks up trash Saturday in Butler's Island neighborhood with Ryan Fichter, 24. Roy and other volunteers spend time each week in a different part of Butler collecting trash.

Everett B. Roy wanted to take something he loves — rap music — and use it to help better his community.

So, in November, he started the Butler Hip Hop and Rap Community.

The Hip Hop and Rap Community hosts rap shows in the Butler area and engages in community service.

“It's all about getting the community involved," Roy said. “Getting the kids off the streets.”Roy started the group as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group because he just wanted a way to help people, having nothing to do with making money.“We host rap shows, so kids have something to go to entertainment-wise,” Roy said. “We do cleanups, so people have a way to get community service hours if they need them.”The Hip Hop and Rap Community helps aspiring rappers perform at the Butler Art Center on Main Street and goes to local parks on the weekends to help clean up.Roy, 33, who moved to the Butler area 19 years ago and graduated from Knoch High School, works as a mechanic.

He said his love of rap comes from his mother, who is from Los Angeles.Roy can play a few instruments, but never really had the time to get too involved with anything musical.“Everybody wants to start a garage band, but I didn't want to do that,” Roy said. “I just wouldn't have the time, so I figured (if I started something), I just wanted to run it.”Roy said the idea to marry rap with community service is a way to improve people's opinions about the genre.“There's a certain stigma behind rap,” Roy said. “I wanted to use something that kind of has a negative image to better the community.”

Roy said the response from the community has been good so far, although he is hoping to get more people involved in the community service.“The rap side of it is strong; the youth endorse it,” Roy said. “The problem is getting people to notice the community service and participate.”Roy said the rap shows usually draw around 60 people, but the weekly park cleanups only get five or so participants.The Hip Hop and Rap Community will host a show and food drive at the Butler Art Center, 344 S. Main St., at 7 p.m. Friday followed by a weekend of cleaning up Blue Slide Park in Pittsburgh on Saturday and Institute Hill Playground in Butler at 9 a.m. Sunday.Additional information about the cleanups will be available at the show or through the group's Facebook page.

Butler Hip Hop Community founder Everett B. Roy, 33, of Saxonburg picks up trash Saturday in Butler's Island neighborhood with his dauter Aubrey Jo Roy, 12. Roy and other volunteers spend every Saturday at a different part of Butler collecting trash.

Butler Hip Hop Community founder Everett B. Roy, 33, of Saxonburg.

Butler Hip Hop and Rap Community founder Everett B. Roy, 33, of Saxonburg uses a garbage can lid he found to collect trash Saturday in Butler's Island neighborhood. The group started in November.