A new program launching in El Cajon will help residents get involved and do their part in the city's beautification process.
The concept is pretty simple. We want to give people an opportunity to clean up their neighborhoods," Mayor Bill Wells said. "It doesn’t have to be just a street, it can be a church, it can be a public park … a vacant lot or someplace in the neighborhood that maybe has gotten some trash on it, and it gives us an opportunity to let people help themselves."
The program will give interested El Cajon residents a dumpster from EDCO, trash pickers, gloves and safety vests for their clean-up project. Each project will have a team captain, and the city only asks that participants submit before and after pictures so the city can keep track of the progress. They say the program isn’t just about cleaner neighborhoods, it’s about building relationships with your neighbors too.
“It’s kind of a time that’s long gone, right? The time of knowing your neighbor or knowing you can go down the block or get some food from your neighbor’s house or something like that. That’s how it was when I grew up. I believe this is one of the benefits that City Council had in mind when they were coming up with this program, to meet your neighbor again,” said Mike James from El Cajon’s Public Works and Operations department.
The program will even give out free mulch to businesses or residents who want it, and they have a free tree program where residents can select a tree from a pre-approved list and the city will come and plant it.
Click here to apply.
The city says it’s important to apply for the program three weeks before your cleanup event. The Public Works department will come out and take a look at the cleanup site before they give it the green light. They say the application is free and the program will continue for as long as residents are taking advantage of it.
