Volunteers Arunali Ray (left), Kari Garcia, Paula Yarman, Perry Jones, and Forrest Hong at the MCWNC Community Cleanup in January 2020 (Photo Credit: Thao Tran)
Community volunteers from the Mid City West Neighborhood Council want to brighten up the streets by cleaning up their neighborhoods on Saturday mornings.
Mid-City West is organizing community cleanups in three districts on November 12th from 10:30 am to noon. Volunteers can join his three district routes in the Fairfax District, Melrose Village and Miracle Mile.
Thao Tran, president of MCWNC Zone 7 and chairman of the Public Safety and Well-Being Committee, said the event will begin in mid-October as a way to get more residents involved in the community in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. did.
“Our community needs to have more opportunities to connect with each other in public, even without transactions,” says Tran. “It’s very important to build relationships with the community in real life, and that these relationships aren’t just online.”
When he started organizing events, Trang remembered the successful community cleanup MCWNC held in January 2020. MCWNC leaders had planned to host a similar cleanup later that year, but that never happened due to COVID-19.
Now that it’s safe for people to congregate, neighborhood cleanups are a great way to not only clean up the streets, but help redefine what community means to residents of Mid City West. she said.
“People don’t realize it’s a hassle. Everyone has to get involved to be part of this community fabric,” says Tran. “I think a lot of people want to do it. People at heart are very open-minded and they want to find ways to work together and make connections, but they often get lost in how to do it. , if we can provide this opportunity, this clue, others may use this as a starting point to influence their neighborhoods.”
MCWNC board members and representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division Area Police Advisory Committee will welcome volunteers at each location. They hand out supplies and clarify cleanup routes.
Miracle Mile volunteers should meet at Wilshire Green Park near the intersection of 8th Street and Sierra Bonita Avenue. The group picks up trash on the way to the terminus near Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA, near Wilshire Boulevard and Detroit Avenue.
Greg Goldin, president of the Miracle Mile Residential Association, says he sees piles of fast food wrappers, glass bottles, coffee cups and cigarette butts on the sidewalks and front yards while walking his dog around his neighborhood. said he noticed. While it’s nice to see neighborhoods cleaned up, Goldin said the main benefit of cleaning up is that residents get closer.
“I believe that if we just let people walk around the city together on Saturday mornings, see each other and take care of their neighborhoods, our sense of community will increase and everyone will be happier. ” said Goldin.
Participants in the Melrose Village area will meet at Melrose Elementary School near the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Detroit Street. The group continues towards Fairfax High School, which is located near Melrose Avenue and Ogden Drive.
Don Duckworth, executive director of the Melrose Business Improvement Association, said the cleanup will further help businesses and residents along Melrose Avenue establish stronger ties while improving the community.
BID cleans weekly along Melrose Avenue between Fairfax Avenue and Highland Avenue. Over the past six months, BID has collected over 39.8 tons of waste and debris. This equates to £13,237 per month.
“It’s great to see the community wanting to help keep Melrose clean, as the trash piles up between garbage collections,” Duckworth said. It’s all about solutions.Businesses and residents all benefit from cleaner communities, and it brings pride to where we live and work.”
In the Beverly Fairfax area, volunteers should meet at the entrance to Television City on Beverly Boulevard and Genesee Avenue. They collect trash along the route to the end near the El Coyote restaurant on Beverly Boulevard and Poinsettia Place.
Volunteers are encouraged to wear hats and sunscreen. You will also be asked to bring a broom, dustpan, work gloves and a refillable water bottle. At each location, event organizers will provide volunteers with donuts, coffee, compostable trash bags, and hygiene kits to distribute to unhoused individuals.
Ideally, a similar event would be held quarterly to attract more volunteers and expand the scope of the cleanup to other locations such as La Brea Avenue, La Cienega Boulevard, and West Third Street. Tran said he wanted to include the main corridor.
“We would like to create a recurring theme that community members typically engage with to bridge the gap between what public institutions can offer and what the public needs,” said Tran. said. “We know that many of us don’t want to sit still when we have the energy and the ability. I just want to make sure I’m there.”
