For three hours the volunteers picked up trash and debris -- beer cans to discarded auto parts -- along Milton, Athens, Mead and Isabella streets from San Pablo Avenue to Market Street.

Police officers also patrolled the area looking for street crime and other problems.

At the end of day, volunteers ate doughnuts and admired their handiwork -- mounds of green trash bags on street corners along Market.

The sweep was coordinated by Oakland Police Lt. Paul Berlin and Annie Sloan, the police department's community services coordinator. "We wanted to make an impact on this neighborhood," Sloan said. "We want to give folks some hope."

McClymond students Daniel Sparks, Jamilla Bullard, Cheyenne McGraw, Shawn Fletcher and Lee Yarbough said they were pleased with their work.

"We live here," one said. "We're trying to make this a better place."

Student volunteers from Service for Peace joined the cleanup -- bringing volunteers from around the Bay Area.

At the end of the day, the streets were free of litter and drug-sellers and others who do business in the neighborhood had moved elsewhere -- for the day, at least.

The cleanup inspired Casper Mann to do some cleanup on his own. He said he has long tried to gain access to a parking lot adjacent to his aunt's house on Athens Street without success.

So Saturday as volunteers picked up trash along the street, he hired a worker to climb the fence and root out the debris -- and the rats. "Now we're going to come back and paint that side of the house," he said.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
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