Volunteers Ready the City for Back to School Season

For immediate release: August 7, 2015

Contact: Mindy Linetzky, 415-554-4829

San Francisco, CA – Friends, students and neighbors are set to come together this Saturday to beautify the City just in time for the back to school season. Volunteers are invited to Public Works’ August Community Clean Team event where they will be cleaning and greening at San Francisco’s schools and surrounding areas in the Bernal Heights, Mission and Portola neighborhoods. Volunteers will be planting, removing weeds and ivy, painting over graffiti, and doing much more to make the first day of school enjoyable for all.

When: Saturday, August 8, 2015, 9 a.m. kickoff

Kickoff location: John O’Connell High School back lot (2355 Folsom Street)

What: District 9 Community Clean Team volunteer workday

Who: Volunteers, Public Works’ crews, Summer Youth Program participants

Photo opportunities:

• Graffiti removal and litter pickup around John O’Connell High School
• Park beautification at Garfield Square (26th and Harrison Streets)
• Gardening, painting and upkeep at Esmeralda slide at Winfield St.
• Litter pickup and weeding along the Alemany Blvd. corridor, west of Bayshore Blvd. to Justin Dr. overpass

This is the eighth of 11 Community Clean Team events planned for 2015. Once a month, Public Works identifies projects where volunteers can beautify and spruce up the streets and sidewalks in their neighborhoods in an effort to keep the City clean and picturesque for residents and visitors.

For over 15 years, Community Clean Team events have brought neighbors, businesses, schools and community organizations together to keep San Francisco clean, amassing over 150,000 volunteer hours. For information about dates, locations and how to sign up, visit sfpublicworks.org/volunteer.

Sponsors and volunteer organizations include: Mission Neighborhood Centers, Portola Neighborhood Association, Recology, Larkin Street Youth, Juvenile Probation Program, Project 20 – Pretrial Diversion Program, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, Tzu-Chi, San Francisco Parks Alliance – Clean & Green Crew, The Garden Project, United Playaz, Community Youth Center, Chinatown Community Development Center, Success Centers, SF Geo Care, Academy of Art University, Starbucks, Walgreens, NICE Water, Emerald Fund, 76, Blue Shield of California, The Hilton – SF Financial District, SF Clean City Coalition, Local 261, San Francisco Public Works, San Francisco Department of Environment, San Francisco Recreation and Parks, SF Housing Authority, SF Unified School District and PG&E.

About San Francisco Public Works: The 24/7 City agency cleans and resurfaces streets; plants and nurtures City-maintained street trees; designs, constructs and maintains City-owned facilities; inspects streets and sidewalks; builds curb ramps; eradicates graffiti; partners with neighborhoods; trains people for jobs; greens the right of way; and educates our communities.