Black Oak Cleanup Day

Over 200 volunteers—including 30 Service Sanitation employees and 50 Calumet New Tech High School students—teamed up for Black Oak Community Clean-Up Day, hauling away 5.34 tons of trash and 329 abandoned tires from local streets.

Black Oak Restore held its first community clean-up on Saturday, September 17th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. After 20 years of battling illegal dumping with little help or funding, residents decided to take matters into their own hands.

Led by lifelong local Doug Olin and the Old Firehouse Community Center, neighbors launched a grassroots effort to clean up their streets.

Service Sanitation, Inc.—a Gary-based company with a heart as big as its dumpsters—stepped up in a big way, donating supplies, shirts, and 30 volunteers to help get the job done.

“We encourage social responsibility amongst our Service Sanitation team. Black Oak is in our own backyard near company headquarters. One of our employees suggested this opportunity and we thought: What better way to make a difference than to start locally?” said Natalie Litera Jones, Director of Operations.

Fueled by the power of social media, a promotional video for the cleanup day created by Service Sanitation quickly went viral and reached well over 17,000 people with more than 450 shares. The Mayor’s Office and the City of Gary sent several representatives to a planning meeting and committed to mowing and street sweeping to assist with the clean-up efforts.

Sponsors of the clean-up included The Old Firehouse Community Center, Lake County Solid Waste Management, the local Black Oak Community churches, J&C Landscaping, Indiana Tree Removal Service, Black Oak Rangers, and Trucks with a Purpose.