Wildomar Beautification Volunteers clean up a local area. (Photo courtesy of the Wildomar Community & Parks Foundation website)
Every Saturday morning, volunteers with the Wildomar Beautification Volunteers head out to clean up local streets and other areas.
The Wildomar Beautification Volunteers, a program of the Wildomar Community & Parks Foundation, typically draw 10 to 20 volunteers each week. The group has helped clean areas in Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Lakeland Village, Murrieta and Menifee.
Bridgette Moore, a Wildomar City Council member representing District 4, founded the Wildomar Community & Parks Foundation in 2019. After volunteers began organizing litter cleanups in 2020, the group became a program under the foundation.
The group now goes out every day, with Saturdays serving as its primary community cleanup day.
Although based in Wildomar, the volunteers’ work goes beyond the city’s boundaries.
Moore said the group has helped clean areas of Lake Elsinore, including roads that border Lake Elsinore and Wildomar, such as Corydon Road, Mission Trail and Malaga Road.
The group has helped with cleanups in Lakeland Village, Murrieta and Menifee. In Menifee, it joins the Scott Road Trashy Pickers for the quarterly Scott Road cleanup. Through its Adopt-A-Highway efforts, the group also cleans a portion of freeway within Murrieta.
“We would love to see our group duplicated in other cities,” Moore said.
The volunteers also help residents with property cleanups, including seniors referred to the group through code enforcement.
Moore said the group was scheduled to help an 87-year-old resident whose property had become heavily overgrown. Volunteers planned to clear the front and back yards to help bring the property back to a manageable condition. The group has also helped properties where volunteers have filled roll-off containers with several tons of tree branches, shrubs and other overgrowth.
Beyond cleanups, the foundation has funded projects and programs intended to benefit the community. Moore said the foundation received a $59,200 grant to purchase foam safety surfacing to replace the bark previously used for the tot lot area at Marna O’Brien Park in Wildomar. The foundation paid for the material, while the city installed it through its capital improvement program.
The foundation has also hosted summer parties for adults with special needs at Marna O’Brien Park and is fundraising for a future veterans and first responders memorial in Wildomar. Moore said the group has raised $10,000 toward the memorial.
Moore said the weekly cleanups remain one of the organization’s most meaningful programs because of the relationships formed among volunteers.
Many of the volunteers are retired, she said, and volunteers often get breakfast together after a cleanup.
“It’s so important to keep everyone active and connected,” Moore said.
One volunteer experience particularly stands out to Moore.
A man named Keith, who had previously experienced homelessness and was working to turn his life around, was brought to a cleanup by Wildomar Councilmember Ashlee DePhillippo. Moore said Keith was initially reserved but gradually opened up to the group.
Moore recalled Keith telling the group he had never been around so many positive people. Moore said Keith also reflected on how he had littered while experiencing homelessness and later found himself returning to the community to pick up litter.
For Moore, stories like Keith’s demonstrate why the group’s work is about more than the amount of litter collected.
“It’s more than just beautification, more than just trash,” Moore said. “It’s connections. It’s not just litter.”
People interested in volunteering can attend the Saturday cleanups, but a waiver is required before participating. Cleanup locations are posted on the organization’s social media page.
The organization also relies on fundraisers to purchase supplies such as gloves, safety vests and litter pickers. Its next pancake breakfast fundraiser is scheduled for Oct. 10 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Wildomar, 21180 Waite St.
