Fresno’s latest initiative kicks off with city-wide support

With 51.2 billion bits of litter accumulated on American roadways every year, almost no one can call themselves a stranger to observing these pesky scraps cluttering their own cities. Beautify Fresno is changing Fresno’s landscape and adding pride to its community.

While many would assume that solving the problem of waste is out of the hands of the individual, national findings suggest that the best way to reverse this problem actually begins within the local community.

Recognizing the impact that a small scale difference can make, new Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer extended an invitation to Fresno residents to come together in an effort to clean up the city. Appointing former director of communications Mark Standriff as administrator to a brand new initiative called Beautify Fresno, Dyer hopes the project will improve peoples’ outlook of the city. 

The project calls on members from local organizations as well as individuals to help clean up litter, graffiti, and illegal dumping in Fresno. As director of Beautify Fresno, Standriff is encouraged by the outcome of groups and individuals willing to come out and support their community. Standriff believes that prioritizing community cleanup events every weekend will show others that positive change is possible. 

“One of the biggest complaints that we get with the City of Fresno is the amount of trash, garbage, litter, graffiti, things that just have really diminished our curb appeal,” Standriff said. “When people are traveling here, whether they’re residents or visitors, it looks like we don’t care. So their opinion of our city changes dramatically.”

Through consideration of how others view Fresno, Standriff holds to the idea that when people take an interest in beautifying their community it will inspire others to do the same. With only a few gatherings to date, the turn out of volunteers regularly exceeds expected numbers, a result that Standriff views as a spiritual blessing.

“When individuals, like the 170-180 who show up to say we’re willing to spend a couple of hours of our Saturday morning to go to some other areas of the city and pick up somebody else’s trash, that’s amazing,” Standriff said. “We always have more people show up than actually sign up. It kind of puts things into more of a spiritual perspective. God is shining His light on this city. If we don’t have people who are out here actively reflecting that light, whats the point? So this is an example of people reflecting God’s light and there’s no better way to show love for somebody else than to serve them without asking.”

Beautify Fresno’s 10th event took place on March 13 near Kings Canyon and Cedar avenues, attracting around 180 people and surpassing the anticipated turnout of 70. Ranging from community-based organizations to individual local citizens, the two-hour project pulled around 218 bags of trash off the streets and sidewalks of the city. 

In the following tweet, Beautify Fresno records their 10th successful event.

You did it again!!! 177 volunteers picked up 218 bags of trash, equaling 1,635 lbs from the area around Kings Canyon Rd. and Cedar Avenue in southeast Fresno pic.twitter.com/MyfQFV2LY1

— Beautify Fresno (@BeautifyFresno) March 14, 2021

Providing equipment like litter pickers, vests and trash bags, executive director of Clean Fresno,  Kit Hannah works behind the scenes to help make the vision of Beautify Fresno a reality. Spending 18 years as an entrepreneur for various Fresno area organizations, Hannah actively seeks solutions to citywide management issues.

“We have something that’s called the vest program,” Hannah said. “It’s the volunteer equipment supply truck and we just supply everything that we need so that people don’t have to go and search for everything themselves. I think it’s very good for everybody to be involved with their community and obviously everybody wants to clean Fresno so it makes sense to get out here and do your part.”

Attendant of the event and member of  Fresno Rotary, Michael Rivara believes in the fulfillment that comes with giving back to the community. After receiving Covid-19 vaccinations, Rivara and the Rotary group felt more secure with increasing their involvement with community outreaches. 

“Once we all received our vaccines, we felt comfortable enough to come out and participate,” Rivara said. “We felt that this was a great start to kick that off. It’s a great time to get involved. Everybody’s been home bound and it provides a great opportunity to come out and interact with fellow community minded individuals.”

In the following podcast, Jewel Chandler interviews Director Mark Standriff about the vision behind Beautify Fresno.

Returning volunteers included mother daughter duo Jennie and Joanne (last names withheld). Both view beautification efforts as an equalizer that unites city residents through the common desire to create a flourishing environment. In an atmosphere of political unrest, both encourage others to come out and work together to make a positive change for everyone.  

“One thing that we said was really nice about it is that it doesn’t matter what your political views are,” Joanne said. Everybody feels the same about wanting to beautify Fresno. It brings us together instead of separate us. We just want to contribute to making Fresno a more beautiful place to be.”

As Beautify Fresno continues to unite the city, many first-time volunteers hope to join upcoming events. Longtime Fresno residents and members of Saint Rest Baptist Church, Japaul and Lakisha White have a history of  active community involvement.

“We’ve come from a family thats been active in the community for generations  – from my father, grandfather and mother,” Japaul said. “This is part of our family ethos and what we believe in: contributing to our community and making sure that its beautiful; that it’s a beautiful place to raise children and it’s a beautiful place just in general inside out. That’s why we’re here.”

Since the start of January 2021, Beautify Fresno has been making strides towards securing a healthy home for all residents. With a similar vision, the local non-profit group Every Neighborhood Partnership began collaborating with Beautify Fresno with the vision of connecting groups like churches and other organizations while helping Fresno reach it’s full potential.

Working with Beautify Fresno since its start in January, Andrew Feil is familiar with the role that community involvement plays in creating a thriving city. Spending four years as associate director of Every Neighborhood Partnership, Feil recently took over as executive director in September.

“When I look at my city, I see it through the eyes of God, which are love,” Feil said. “We also want other folks to see this city and fall in love with it. One of the challenges we are working together to solve is making our city more beautiful for everyone. We are no longer the butt of jokes, but a place of pride. We  want to help everyone feel responsible for the future of our city.  As more people become involved we increase the number of folks who have moved from consumers to owners in Fresno.”

As a part of moving forward to unify and clean up the city, Beautify Fresno will be hosting a Great American Cleanup event on April 24; they are looking for over 500 volunteers to spread out across 12 areas throughout Fresno. To get involved with this event or other community efforts, be sure to follow Beautify Fresno on twitter or visit their website beautifyfresno.org. 

For more articles, check out March 13th, 2020: The year since Fresno Christian stood silent or  FCS student rebuilds 61 year old car restores family heirloom.

Jewel Chandler can be reached via Twitter and via email.