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This September marks the 25th year of Creek to Bay in Oakland. This year due to Covid-19 we are transforming a day set aside for watershed clean ups to a whole month of cleaning, greening and beautifying our neighborhoods, parks and creeks. So go outside by yourself or with your social bubble and do something to help improve the health of our local creeks and watersheds. Every little bit helps!
Check out this website: www.oaklandcreektobay.org to learn more about how you can participate in Creek to Bay month! Members of the KOB board recently visited the murals painted in downtown Oakland that share messages of peace, commemorate lost Black lives, and showcase artistry of Oakland residents. Photo credits: Andrea Silvestri         We are filled with sadness over recent events and the senseless murders of Black Americans—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey. The long history of racial injustice in our country is irrefutable and intolerable. For far too long, events across our nation have laid bare the systemic acts of hatred and violence perpetrated against Black people in our communities.
At Keep Oakland Beautiful, we are committed to creating and sustaining a beautiful, clean Oakland for everyone. We also acknowledge that the right to a clean, healthy environment is not shared equally among all and that Black people do not have the same access to clean and green spaces. As an organization, we are committed to working with all districts and we will continue to emphasize the importance of access and inclusivity. We embrace Oakland’s black community and support the peaceful demonstrations throughout the city that are demanding justice. After the demonstrations, volunteer board members are working to keep Oakland clean and beautiful. Because of COVID-19 public health concerns, we are not able to host any volunteer events, but we encourage everyone to arrange their own cleanups. You can also find more Bay Area clean up events at bayareacleanup. Black Lives Matter. In solidarity and in pride for our diverse city, Keep Oakland Beautiful Board  We are all already making a big impact by staying at home, both for our neighbors and for our earth. If you are looking for ways to celebrate Earth Day this year, here are a few ideas to get outside and make a difference.
Happy Earth Day, Oakland! We hope our neighbors are healthy and happy.  Every year, Keep Oakland Beautiful works with the community to do a clean up in honor of Earth Day. This year, we will be co-hosting an Earth Day cleanup event with one of our new board members, Grant Chen!
Where: Durant Mini Park, 675 29th Street, between MLK and West St, Oakland, CA, 94609 When: 9:00 AM–12:00 PM What We'll Be Doing
Check out What We Did Last Year! Earth Day 2019 at Courtland Creek & Jingletown KOB is Recognized with a Second Year of Membership in Keep America Beautiful's President’s Circle2/26/2020
Highlights of Our Work from 2019 Thanks to our community, we have helped fund impactful programs throughout Oakland. Here is a sampling of some of the work done in 2019. Jingletown Drain Painting Using a grant from KOB, volunteers painted murals around two drains to bring awareness to the drains while beautifying the neighborhood. The first mural, Estuary Fish, was painted by 50 eighth-graders from Lazear Charter Academy. The second mural, Community Quilt, was designed in collaboration with a local senior quilt maker and painted by neighborhood volunteers during an MLK service day. Myrtle St. Bulb Out Mural and Beautification As part of the opening of a new Community Foods Market in West Oakland, the city installed a bulb-out at the NW corner of San Pablo Ave and Myrtle St. to slow vehicles at the intersection. Using a KOB grant, volunteers painted a mural to draw attention to the intersection and increase its impact. Hoover Durant St Corner Library Pop-Up A KOB small grant supported the construction of mobile book storage wagons as part of the Hoover Durant Street Corner Library Events. The events are a temporary, yet on-going part of a much larger ongoing campaign to bring back a public neighborhood branch library that was demolished for the construction of a freeway in the early 1970s. Champion Transit Plaza Landscape Renovation Champion Transit Plaza was built in 2013 by the City of Oakland. Volunteers with the Dimond Improvement Association (DIA) have been maintaining the plaza for five years but the plantings were in need of renovation. DIA used a grant from KOB to replant with more drought-tolerant plants. Longfellow Garden Boxes The Longfellow Neighborhood Association used a KOB grant to beautify the sidewalk in front of an auto body shop on one of the busiest corridors in the neighborhood. Volunteers built raised planters between the chain-link fence and sidewalk and planted drought-tolerant plants. In the future, the neighborhood association would like to build mini-gardens at 5 additional autobody sites along MLK and West MacArthur. Hoover Elementary Garden In partnership with the Permaculture Action Network, Burners Without Borders, and Common Vision, the neighborhood hosted a day of hands-on projects and workshops. Nearly 400 volunteers cleared garden spaces and created community agreements about interest, participation and crop choices. Longfellow Mosaic Trash Cans The Longfellow neighborhood is in the process of installing five new mosaic garbage cans on 40th Street at the corners of Market Street, West Street, and MLK Jr Way—the busiest corridors in the neighborhood, primarily at bus stops. Universal Garden of Love The Universal Garden of Love will support residents of Lion Creek Crossings (LCC) to share foods they have grown at LCC by hosting monthly clean ups and pot lucks at the public park. The project will provide four residents at LCC with planter beds to place in a small area near the park or on resident patios. The President's Circle is the highest award given by the Keep America Beautiful. You can learn more about the work that helped us earn this membership here:
We are honored to be a member of KAB and look forward to continuing our work in serving Oakland's communities. The Keep Oakland Board welcomed six new board members for 2020.
Learn more about the KOB board here. Martin Luther King Jr proclaimed that “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve.” This was true of the 45 great volunteers who showed up and worked all day in the Jingletown neighborhood of Oakland. Volunteers from Kaiser, Clorox, Keep Oakland Beautiful and neighbors worked at two sites, the shoreline and the art wall.  On the shoreline, volunteers picked up trash including broken glass bottles, cigarette butts and various plastic odds and ends, not only making the shoreline more aesthetically pleasing but also keeping the trash from our storm drains and waterways. Volunteers also planted a tree that will serve to beautify the street close to the shore.   At the art wall, volunteers worked hard to weed, prune and clean up the garden space. They also were able to repaint storm drain art under the direction of a local artist. A lot of work was done and the area will be beautified for years to come!  In 2019, KOB funded 10 small grants. Here's how your contributions made a difference in Oakland. Jingletown Drain Painting Like in much of Oakland, storm drains in the Jingletown neighborhood lead directly to the Oakland Estuary. Using a grant from KOB, volunteers painted murals around two drains to bring awareness to the drains while beautifying the neighborhood. The first mural, Estuary Fish, was painted by 50 eighth-graders from Lazear Charter Academy. The second mural, Community Quilt, was designed in collaboration with a local senior quilt maker and painted by neighborhood volunteers during an MLK service day. More photos on the KOB blog post  Myrtle St. Bulb Out Mural and Beautification As part of the opening of a new Community Foods Market in West Oakland, the city installed a bulb-out at the NW corner of San Pablo Ave and Myrtle St. to slow vehicles at the intersection. Using a KOB grant, volunteers painted a mural to draw attention to the intersection and increase its impact.  Hoover Durant St Corner Library Pop-Up A KOB small grant supported the construction of mobile book storage wagons as part of the Hoover Durant Street Corner Library Events. The events are a temporary, yet on-going part of a much larger ongoing campaign to bring back a public neighborhood branch library that was demolished for the construction of a freeway in the early 1970s.
Champion Transit Plaza Landscape Renovation Champion Transit Plaza was built in 2013 by the City of Oakland. Volunteers with the Dimond Improvement Association (DIA) have been maintaining the plaza for five years but the plantings were in need of renovation. DIA used a grant from KOB to replant with more drought-tolerant plants. “We really appreciated this grant as it served as an incentive to get the project done. It's also great to know that we're one of many projects around the city--a community of good works!”
Longfellow Garden Boxes The Longfellow Neighborhood Association used a KOB grant to beautify the sidewalk in front of an auto body shop on one of the busiest corridors in the neighborhood. Volunteers built raised planters between the chain-link fence and sidewalk and planted drought-tolerant plants. In the future, the neighborhood association would like to build mini-gardens at 5 additional autobody sites along MLK and West MacArthur. “This was a wonderful opportunity for the Longfellow Community Association! We've never gotten a grant before and it was both a learning and growing experience for us. We hope to apply for grants for similar projects in the future--Longfellow has a lot of industrial sites that we'd like to green, especially given the positive feedback on this one! “
CAP MLK Blvd Homeless Camp and Street Clean Up The Community Ambassador Program used a grant from KOB to host three clean-ups at homeless encampments in West Oakland. MLK Blvd & W. Grand, 35th-36th on MLK and Peralta and 35th.
Hoover Elementary Garden The intent of this KOB-sponsored project was to plant empty spaces in the Hoover Elementary Garden with crops culturally relevant to local families from Arabic and African countries. In partnership with the Permaculture Action Network, Burners Without Borders, and Common Vision, the neighborhood hosted a day of hands-on projects and workshops. Nearly 400 volunteers cleared garden spaces and created community agreements about interest, participation and crop choices. The school district has since decided to take back control of the land so they were not able to plant fava beans, chard and figs. Instead, they built two redwood benches to replace the milk crates used by crossing guards who have been protecting school children for almost 20 years. “We are very appreciative of the opportunity to add new elements to our School’s garden, one that is transforming our students’ appreciation for each other and our earth.”  MacArthur Heights 98th Avenue Beautification The neighborhood association used a KOB grant to cover ugly dirt with rocks at 98th Avenue above Mac Arthur Blvd. one of the busiest streets in Oakland. Longfellow Mosaic Trash Cans
The Longfellow neighborhood is in the process of installing five new mosaic garbage cans on 40th Street at the corners of Market Street, West Street, and MLK Jr Way—the busiest corridors in the neighborhood, primarily at bus stops. Universal Garden of Love The Universal Garden of Love will support residents of Lion Creek Crossings (LCC) to share foods they have grown at LCC by hosting monthly clean ups and pot lucks at the public park. The project will provide four residents at LCC with planter beds to place in a small area near the park or on resident patios. KOB came out in full force at two clean up sites to boost Oakland’s clean up efforts in the Battle for the Bay - Creek to Bay Day event. Our clean up at Cesar Chavez Park had more than 50 volunteers picking up trash from the park and playground areas. Volunteers also removed scrap metal, glass and plastic bottles, clothes, a scooter, a sofa section and two dolls from the day-lighted section of Peralta Creek that runs through the park. Through our pick up efforts we are happy to report that we prevented 21 bags worth of trash from ending up in our creeks and shorelines. Over 60 people showed up at our Jingletown site and their hard work made a huge impact to that area. In just a few hours, Volunteers picked up 25 bags worth of trash and filled over 100 bags of green waste! Thanks to all who pitched in and came out to make our Creek to Bay Day a smashing success!
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