Volunteers paint over graffiti at the annual Great American Cleanup event. Photo courtesy of Bakersfield Solid Waste Division

The Great American Cleanup is kid- and family-friendly, although highway crews must be 16 or older. Bakersfield Express has requested a stroller-friendly cleanup site. Photo courtesy of Bakersifeld Solid Waste Division

By Jennifer Baldwin

If you don’t like seeing trash and graffiti around Bakersfield, do something about it. On Saturday, April 17, Keep Bakersfield Beautiful is hosting the annual Great American Cleanup. The event takes place around the country and, until last year, was topped by Bakersfield for the most volunteers.

“Last year we lost to Philadelphia, so we want to get back there and claim the top again,” said Mayor Harvey Hall at a kick-off meeting last week.

Last year in Bakersfield, 1,900 volunteers picked up 33,000 pounds of litter and used 100 gallons of paint to cover up graffiti. Teams cleaned up 50 “hot spots.”

This year, the committee wants to see 100 areas of town get cleaned up. That means a lot more volunteers are needed.

To help with this effort, Bakersfield Express is leading a team. We don’t know what area of town we’ll be assigned or what our task will be, but we did request the chore be stroller-friendly for families who want to participate.

The cleanup time will be from 8 to 10:30 a.m. (or longer if we feel the need to keep working.) The cleanup is followed with a free lunch and awards ceremony at Yokuts Park until 1:30 p.m. Simultaneously, the Greater Bakersfield Green Expo will also take place at Yokuts Park on April 17 – so after the cleanup and lunch, we can also visit the many booths and organization displays at the park and learn how to live a greener lifestyle in Bakersfield. There will be 33 vendors as well as high school art and science awards.

If you would like to join the Bakersfield Express cleanup crew, please e-mail the number of participants, your names and T-shirt sizes to editor@bakersfieldexpress.org. Or RSVP to our event page on Facebook with the information. The deadline to request a T-shirt is Thursday, April 1.

If you would like to form a team of your own, there is still time. Call Tabitha Marsh with the city’s solid waste and recycling division at 326-3114. Team applications are due by Friday, March 23.

Numerous sponsors make it possible for the teams to receive free T-shirts, gloves and garbage bags, as well as lunch in the park afterward. All you have to do is commit yourself to volunteering for the Great American Cleanup.

Join the Bakersfield Express team – it’ll be fun and we’ll be helping to make a difference in our city.