October 1, 2019 — Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announced today the next installment of Operation Fresh Start is set for Saturday, October 19, 2019. The Saturday community-led clean-up and beautification events are followed by a week of City-Parish DPW crews focusing on clearing trash, cutting grass, eliminating blight, and improving corridors throughout the parish.
“Facing litter head-on will improve the quality of life for our citizens in every aspect of their lives including economic development, drainage and safety,” said Mayor-President Broome. “These community beautification efforts are part of transforming the culture of litter. I want to continue growing Operation Fresh Start to reach every citizen, because this is a very important issue for our entire parish.”
Citizens are encouraged to volunteer to pick up litter and help beautify East Baton Rouge during the Saturday, October 19 community cleanup, by signing up at www.brla.gov/freshstart.
Clean-ups begin at 8am and end at 11am. Volunteers will be provided with clean-up supplies such as gloves, trash bags, and litter-grabbers courtesy of a partnership with the non-profit Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful.
Citizens interested in leading a cleanup and beautification effort in their neighborhood or community are encouraged to “Embrace A Place” by signing up to serve as a site lead here. Site lead volunteers are asked to designate a cleanup area, and a meetup location for volunteers.
Operation Fresh Start is part of Broome’s comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of place and combat blight in East Baton Rouge Parish. The effort kicked off in 2018, and is held quarterly at various locations throughout East Baton Rouge Parish. Since its start, Operation Fresh Start has yielded the following results for the community:
- Disposal of over 700 tons of trash and debris from our community
- Removal of over 6,300 illegally dumped tires
- Removal of over 3,100 bags of litter
- 171 potholes filled
- Removal of over 34,000 pounds of broken concrete
- Removal of 140 illegally placed signs