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Md. Volunteers Pitch In For Spring Cleaning

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The weather may not have been the best, but the intentions were. Thousands of volunteers pitched in to give Baltimore a spring cleaning.

As Alex DeMetrick reports, work centered on neighborhoods, although the benefits stretch all the way to the bay.

A little bit of trash blowing here, a little more tossed to the side of the road, and before you know it trash piles up.

Park Heights was just one of the neighborhoods targeted for Baltimore's annual spring cleanup. Volunteers from the police academy joined neighbors, who have struggled with abandoned property that have become dumping grounds.

"We have 56 houses on this block and less than 20 are occupied. We struggle on a daily basis to get it clean. It's very frustrating to have to come home and be subjected to filth," said homeowner Muriel Thompson.

Almost 5,000 people signed up, removing tons of trash from streets, gutters and especially alleys.

"The alleys are full of tons of debris. Sometimes I think people, when they hear about this day, actually dump their debris in the community. It's amazing," said Julius Colon, of Park Heights Renaissance.

This cleanup targets more than just neighborhoods because trash moves around, especially when it rains.

Trash flows downstream to the harbor and ultimately the bay.

"Trash doesn't have a zip code. It moves all around, gets in our water. People can't fish, they can't swim. We want to have healthy water and healthy neighborhoods and it starts with us cleaning up," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

And the more help, the better.

"I've been trying to get this done for years, and lo and behold, about 100 people show up to help us clean up, and I am thrilled," said Thompson.

Saturday's cleanup covered neighborhoods from the York Road corridor to Reservoir Hill.

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