CLEARLAKE >> A cleaner Clearlake is not all the members of Citizens Caring For Clearlake (CC4C) have accomplished since their start in 2014. Many have come out to say the nonprofit organization has created a sense of community, something founder Barbara Christwitz did not envision happening until a young girl knocked on her door three years ago.
The start of it all, she said, took place after she retired as a tutoring specialist at a local community college. While at her home in Clearlake, a nine-year-old had asked Christwitz how she could earn some spending money. Christwitz then handed the young girl a plastic grocery bag and instructed her to fill it up with litter for cash. The child’s efforts earned her a dollar.
“That scenario worked so well that other neighbors, including adults, asked to work along a similar vein,” Christwitz said.
One month later, Christwitz and her husband received an anonymous $10,000 donation after previously sharing her wish for Clearlake with a guest during a dinner party.
“I said that I wished I had a pot of money to give to the people of Clearlake for cleaning up our town,” she said. After sharing ideas on how to execute this goal, she received the donation and soon settled on North Coast Opportunities to serve as their soon-to-be organization’s fiscal agent. That’s when CC4C was officially born.
Today, CC4C has already cleaned-up approximately 100 dump sites in the city. With a punch-pin map, they have been able to track which sites they have cleaned up and which are still on their radar. But it has not been an easy task. The organization has found more abandoned homes, lots and sections of highways used as dump sites of all shapes and sizes than there are members. They currently have about one dozen active volunteers.
Some days CC4C has extra help thanks in part to holding work parties where homeless individuals join for an hour of litter pick-up. In return, they receive pre-purchased $5 or $10 grocery gift cards.
Teams spend a usual three to four hours relieving areas of “everything imaginable,” member John Boling said. Loads of dump trucks fill up immediately per site.
CC4C said they believe the implementation of a garbage service could help minimize the “chronic” trash problem in Clearlake. Though most cities in California require having mandatory garbage pick-up services available for businesses and residents, Clearlake is one of the few that don’t have obligatory services. As a result, hoarding and illegal trash dumping have increased drastically across the city. The implementation of the Universal Garbage Services won’t be in effect for locals until April 2018.
Until that time, Christwitz said CC4C really needs to have volunteers adopt a block or section to help maintain its clean state.
Part of the organization’s success lies not just in the volunteers, some of who volunteer full-time, but with the help of other organizations and other community members. Just last week, the City of Clearlake announced the completion of their third community clean-up project with CC4C. The vacant property was tackled in collaboration with Code Enforcement and Public Works personnel where 60 cubic yards of garbage and 2,000 pounds of scrap metal was removed.
Clearlake City Manager Greg Folsom said, “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don’t realize how they are negatively impacting the city by tossing their garbage out of the car window or illegally dumping garbage on an empty lot. The volunteers with CC4C are helping us to change the perception of Clearlake from being ‘dirty’ to being an up and coming part of the county.”
And that’s exactly what Christwitz, Boling, and other volunteers strive to achieve with every pick-up.
“People want to live in a place that we’re proud of. We want to promote a strong community and a cleaner Clearlake,” Boling and Christwitz added.
When the CC4C founder isn’t with other members completing a clean-up project, she spends time at local grade schools, with a clarinet in hand, teaching students a catchy tune that promotes picking up litter. She and students have also planted flowers at a local park in an effort to help beautify parts of the city.
CC4C’s much success has received requests to help clean up areas outside of Clearlake. The organization says they are committed to their home city, but encourage communities to start their own clean-up groups and spread awareness of having a cleaner and safer Lake County.
