Volunteers pick up thousands of pounds of trash on Chicago's West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) – Part of East Garfield Park was transformed on Friday with thousands of pounds of litter hauled away.
Organizers told CBS 2's Sara Machi they were asked to target those blocks and not for the first time.
One man's trash is Donna Adam's treasure.
"Because I do what I do, I see trash everywhere I go," Adam said. "Even when I'm on vacation."
She started the nonprofit Clean Up, Give Back in 2018 after seeing trash on her daily drive. Since then, she's led teams of volunteers to collect more than 145,000 pounds of trash and debris.
"It's kind of a lot," said volunteer Veena Yeleswarapu.
On Friday, the Des Plaines resident was working with volunteers from Ernst & Young.
"I am almost full with a bucket, and I've been here for almost five minutes," Yeleswarapu said. "So that's kind of concerning as well."
One stretch along West Congress Parkway has become something of a repeat customer.
"The mayor's office and the alderman get a lot of requests for cleanup here," Adam said.
Organizers said they set a new collection record along the road the last time they met in April. They collected about 5,500 pounds of trash collection, and already, the numbers were stacking up again during their most recent effort.
"We have a whole living room set," said one volunteer. "A bed. We have some baby gear, some doors."
Adam said the effects of the cleanup were both immediate and long-term since she signs up more volunteers when they see the impact in their own neighborhoods.
"At the end of the day, we are going to be able to see it looking a lot cleaner, so that is always nice," Yeleswarapu said.
Adam said preliminary estimates showed the volunteers collected more than 4,000 pounds of trash on Friday. They also found a gun, and it wasn't the first firearm they found at that location.
The gun was handed over to the alderman's office and taken to police.
