Oakland to launch campaign to keep city clean – NBC Bay Area

Taking advantage of the fact that Saturday is Valentine’s Day, the city of Oakland is inviting the community to celebrate the revitalization of the neighborhood that for years had the largest homeless encampment in the city.

The city of Oakland begins a new stage in its fight to clean up the illegal dumps that have affected the city for years.

On Saturday, they will launch their LOVEOAK campaign, and they will do so with a celebration at a warehouse located on the 1700 block of 12th Street. This sector was affected by accumulation of garbage, homeless encampments and graffiti for years, but now it looks different.

The restoration of the area was made possible by the “Keep Oakland Beautiful” initiative created by Mayor Barbara Lee to address the cleanup and illegal camping crisis in the city.

“We are inviting Oakland residents to pledge to recycle, pick up trash and use our free trash services,” announced Christina Porter, executive director of Keep Oakland Beautiful.

Angelica Torres says she is seeing the change on International Boulevard.

“What Height Street at International is is a lot of cleaning that they are doing. A lot and very good cleaning,” said Torres.

Torres says he has even seen his councilor participating in the cleanup.

“And Noel Gallo every day at seven in the morning, he walks around with his garbage truck cleaning the streets, I have seen that and in the afternoons too,” said Torres.

Keep Oakland Beautiful has collected more than 36,000 pounds of trash since it began its program late last year.

The new stage of the LOVEOAK program will ensure that these areas are kept clean. Residents who pledge to keep the city clean will receive hot chocolate, a red velvet cake, T-shirts and reused grocery bags.

While tenants and homeowners who schedule their free waste collection that day will be entered into a drawing to win $100 in cash.