Community Clean Team Celebrates 15th Anniversary on Saturday

For immediate release: Jan. 30, 2015

Contact: Rachel Gordon, 415-554-6045

San Francisco, CA – This Saturday, Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisors London Breed, Jane Kim and Julie Christensen and more than 200 community volunteers will come together at United Nations Plaza to kick-off the 15th year of Public Works’ Community Clean Team, the City’s premiere volunteer cleaning and greening initiative. 

But Saturday will be more than kind words and speeches: Volunteers will spread out through the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods to plant trees, lay down woodchips and landscaping, maintain tree basins, install planters, sweep up litter, paint City trash receptacles and remove graffiti. A marquee project of the day will be to refresh the Tenderloin’s Safe Passage Route, an 11-block “yellow brick road” sidewalk mural, which promotes safety by identifying the area as a place for children and families.

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2015

Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. (speaking program starts at 9 a.m.)

Location: United Nations Plaza, Eighth and Market streets

“We started the Community Clean Team nearly 15 years ago to strengthen our diverse neighborhoods and keep our City clean, green and beautiful,” said Mayor Ed Lee, who helmed Public Works during the inception of the Community Clean Team. “Working together side by side with our City and partners, our residents and community organizations are making a real impact in their own neighborhoods, having a great time volunteering and proving that San Francisco is the greatest city in the world.”

District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, a host of Saturday’s event, added, “Community Clean Team represents so much that’s special about San Francisco – people coming together to build community and make our neighborhoods stronger, safer and more beautiful.”

A highlight of Saturday’s celebration will be the March of the Machines, where steamers, a flusher truck and green machines will caravan down Market Street from Eighth Street to The Embarcadero, thoroughly cleaning the corridor, including the bike lanes.

This will be the first of 11 Community Clean team events this season, one in each supervisorial district.

What started as a district-by-district partnership between dedicated neighbors and the City of San Francisco has blossomed over the last decade and a half into a full-blown community collaboration, with scores of neighborhood groups, nonprofits, schools and businesses small and large devoted to the simple idea that a way to help keep the City beautiful and livable is to show up and lend a hand, whether sweeping up a single piece of litter, painting out the smallest blemish of graffiti or planting blocks of street trees.

“I see families and neighbors coming back every year and bringing new people with them,” said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. “Community Clean Team events make greening and cleaning fun. It’s a chance to meet your neighbors, teach your children to take pride in our community and be part of something bigger in our neighborhoods. Come join us.”

Since 2000, the program has logged more than 148,000 volunteer hours, added more than 30,000 plants to public spaces, and painted over more than 3 million square feet of graffiti. Clean Team volunteers will focus on one supervisorial district each month. Information about dates and locations, and how to sign up, can be found at sfpublicworks.org/volunteer.

Saturday’s Clean Team project highlights and photo opportunities:

• March of the Machines – steamers, a flusher and green machines take to the streets on Market Street from Eighth Street to The Embarcadero
• UN Plaza – replacing worn turf with decomposed granite
• Tenderloin Safe Passage mural – refurbishing yellow brick road, Leavenworth to Jones, Ellis to Golden Gate
• Turk and Hyde Mini Park – clean up and beautification
• McCoppin Hub and bike path – litter pick up and spruce up (McCoppin at Valencia near Market)
• Skate park – graffiti removal (McCoppin near Valencia)
• Mission @ Duboce tree planting – install and paint planters and plant trees

Sponsors and volunteer organizations involved in the first event of the year include: 76, Starbucks, Walgreens, Emerald Fund, Recology, The Hilton, Academy of Art University, PG&E, Luxor Cabs, SF Clean City Coalition, Local 261, SF United School District, SF Housing Authority, Juvenile Probation Program, Project 20 Pretrial Diversion Program, California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Mission Neighborhood Centers, San Francisco Parks Alliance, United Playaz, Community Youth Center, Tzu-Chi, Beta Phi, Ben Franklin High School (Daly City) and Geo Care.

Check out our Community Clean Team video http://youtu.be/jTLv9d406BI

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.