HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- A new effort to clean up the Harrisburg community has volunteers starting the weekend picking up trash.
July 30 marks the second of six events called Hot Spot Saturdays. The initiative was organized by the city in response to resident concerns.
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Armed with grabbers and garbage bags, wheelbarrows and brooms, volunteers spent Saturday morning cleaning up city neighborhoods.
"We've picked up wrappers, bottles, soda cans," volunteer Jasmine Rodriguez said. "It's honestly disappointing seeing so much stuff on the floor."
A Harrisburg native, Jasmine said it feels good focusing on her hometown.
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"I just want to help make the world a cleaner place, make it look nicer at least," she said.
She came out to help with her family, including her dad, Harrisburg councilman Ralph Rodriguez, who spearheaded this project.
"We wanted to draw a bigger and much more robust cleanup," Rodriguez said.
He calls it Hot Spot Saturdays, and he has a list of six hotspots to tackle this summer.
"A hotspot would be typically where illegal dumping would be taking play throughout the city," he said. "Sign up, show up, clean up."
Rodriguez said part of this initiative also involves working with the mayor's office to decide on the best place to put surveillance cameras up, to prevent illegal dumping before it happens and enforce the law when it does.
"They're looking at legally and logistically, where we can put those without infiltrating on privacy," he said.
Rodriguez and his fellow council members said seeing young people get involved is the best part.
"They could have been anywhere doing anything in the city, especially on a Saturday, beautiful weather, but they chose to be here," Rodriguez said.
Council president Danielle Bowers said, "They are really taking a vested interest in their community and beautifying it. "
Bowers came out for her first Hot Spot Saturday. She said it is an easy, fun way to connect with neighbors.
"[It] reestablishes a sense of community," she said.
At the end of the day, there is one clear message.
"It's nice seeing it cleaner," Jasmine said. "Stop throwing trash on the ground...keep this world clean."
There will be four more hot spot events this summer: August 7, August 20, September 9 and September 10. Each event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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