A group of local residents spent their Martin Luther King Day in service to the community of Morgan Hill by cleaning litter and trash from the roadsides at a busy interchange.
In fact, the residents—organized by Jeff Prickett—met at three different locations in Morgan Hill on different mornings throughout the three-day weekend in an effort to beautify the community.
On Saturday, about 25 local volunteers met up with Prickett to clean up the area around the U.S. 101 interchange with Cochrane Road. On Sunday, about 15 volunteers helped pick up trash at the Dunne Avenue interchange with the freeway.
Then on Monday, Jan. 18, Prickett and a few more volunteers met to clean up the area around Tennant Avenue and U.S. 101.
Prickett estimated by the time the volunteers finished cleaning by noon Monday, they would have picked up about 7,500 pounds of garbage and litter over the three-day weekend.
The group has gained assistance from local businesses and organizations, including Recology South Valley—which donated a large garbage bin to help remove the litter they collected during MLK Day weekend. Prickett added that they have also worked with Valley Water and California Coastal Cleanup.
Prickett said he chose to organize a cleanup effort on MLK Day because it is a nationally recognized day of service. But more broadly, he noted that keeping trash off the ground and out of the waterways should be an ongoing community effort.
Not only are there pervasive health, safety and economic development issues related to litter; Prickett said keeping the community clean helps raise property values and keep crime down.
Prickett has been cleaning and re-cleaning his neighborhood near downtown Morgan Hill since early August.
“We encourage people to clean up their own neighborhoods,” Prickett said. “And when it comes to littering, we would like to change people’s behavior.”
Volunteers out on Jan. 18 used mechanical litter grabbers, wore rubber gloves and carried trash bags as they walked through the grassy areas in and around the Tennant Avenue interchange picking up roadside litter.
Mike O’Rourke said as he walked the on-ramp from Tennant Avenue to U.S 101 north that much of the litter consists of empty alcohol containers and fast food packaging.
Before 10am, O’Rourke had already filled more than two garbage bags full of litter.
“I’m a 30-year resident of Morgan Hill and I want to do my part to try to beautify my city,” O’Rourke said.
Morgan Hill resident Jennifer Andrade brought her teenage daughter out to volunteer Monday morning. “It was my day off today, and I wanted to do something for the community. And I wanted to teach my daughter that you can do good, even on your days off,” Andrade said.
The areas where the volunteers cleaned were adjacent to Valley Water’s Madrone Channel and related infrastructure, as well as a walking trail along the freeway.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, the California Coastal Commission has encouraged residents to initiate their own neighborhood cleanup efforts in similar fashion. Before the pandemic, the commission’s California Coastal Cleanup efforts included large-scale organized volunteer meet-ups.
“Cleaning your neighborhoods, local parks, streets, and storm drains helps protect our coast,” reads the commission’s website. “Trash travels through storm drains, creeks, and rivers to become beach and ocean pollution. Help clean the beach by picking up litter in your community with your household.”
Prickett is also organizing a volunteer cleanup day at Chesbro Reservoir west of Morgan Hill from 9am to 11am Jan. 23.
