Over the last six years, Dr. G has been engaged in trash clean-up efforts in the downtown areas, and nearby main streets and alleys. From time to time various individuals and groups have joined in to offer some assistance in the clean-up effort. In many cases, these efforts have been mentioned publically, but mostly, the individuals and groups have volunteered to fulfill a sense of local pride and contribution to our community. In all cases, however, their efforts were well-received with heartfelt appreciation, and of course, properly thanked.
Recently, the idea of community trash clean-ups have been catching on to a higher degree. Periodically, someone in the community drops by to offer a hand. In fact, one individual, in particular, Nellie Cortez, has now teamed up with Dr. G on a weekly basis to tackle the never-ending battle of litter on our public walkways. The best part of the entire project, explains Dr. G, is that “for a period of time, some of these principal street areas are cleaned up, and the city looks beautiful.”
Last week was a particularly active operation. Dr. G decided to tackle the trash and debris dumped along Congress and Fogg Street, which needs to be cleaned more than once annually. “There is a lot of dumping along that corridor, so making multiple visits to that area is sometimes necessary to keep it looking nice. Lo and behold, this particular effort included several members of the newly formed Colton Lions Club who contacted Dr. G last week to ask about participating. “Of course,” replied Dr. G enthusiastically, knowing that help was definitely needed for the big clean-up project in this particular area.
Without delay, ten members of the Lions Clubs reported for duty on Tuesday evening, followed by Dr. G the next morning to start preparing the piles for pickup by the city public works department. Dr. G then went back on Thursday to complete the final clean up and was joined, by Steve Contreras, a city employee, who happened to stop by on this way to work and offered to help.
“This segment of the Congress/Fogg Street corridor takes about three days to complete,” says Dr. G. Next week, the plans are to continue working in the same area but moving onto the next segment. One of the members, Evelyn Lopez, posted on FB, “Our Lion’s Club is going to continue to help.” Other members of the Colton Lions Club who helped last week were Carlos Araiza, Rebecca Jaurigue, Jeff Ketchum, Carmen Lozolla, Evelyn Lopez, Ed Morden, Erik Morden, Soledad Morden, Pablo Ramirez, and Judith Wilson. “We decided to make this a club project,” says Carlos Araiza., one of the members of the Lions Club.
According to President Pablo Ramirez, the Colton Lions Club is to consider helping Dr. G with the trash clean-up on a monthly basis. “We’re discussing this idea at our meetings,” said Pablo Ramirez.
“No matter what, it’s great to see community groups participate in the, especially when it comes to providing hand-on service.” explains Dr. G., and adds, “I appreciate the time and effort the group members gave to help make our city a better place.”
For more information about CITY TALK, the trash clean-up, or the online live-stream programs, contact Dr. G @ 213-3730. Questions and comments are always welcome.
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