WHAM’s Skyway Business District Spring Cleanup by the Numbers

  West Hill Action Mob

by Devin Chicras

We celebrated Earth Day weekend in Skyway on Saturday, April 20th with some of the coolest neighbors toting litter grabbers, contractor bags and a croissant or two to pair with free double-shot espressos.

One of the newest West Hill Community Association (WHCA) Board Members, Beth, chases down every last scrap of litter.

880 Yard Stretch of Renton Ave S Covered

At least half of a mile of the Skyway Business District on both sides of Renton Avenue from 74th Avenue South all the way down to Skyway Library got some love from our volunteers.

Patty did not waste any time on her first WHAM cleanup, and covered both sides of Renton Avenue South so fast we could barely capture her on camera.

18 Free Reusable Waterbottles Disbursed

Thanks to our friends at Cascade Designs, we had a whole bunch of high-quality reusable Platypus SoftBottles to give out to volunteers.

WHCA Board President, Jeremy, goes in to snag some delicious snacks at our HQ in front of the WHCA office.

15 Pounds of Fresh Fruit On Hand

Plenty of organic bananas and apples, plus easy peel citrus fruit helped round out a delicious light breakfast of baked goods, granola bars and other snacks.

Miki was so determined to join us for another WHAM party that she came straight from a completely different cleanup party to help out! #dedication

12 Motivated Volunteers

Shout outs to Mary G., Devin C., Laurel M., Joel M., Beth H., Neal M., Patty H., Jeremy W., Vicky W., Miki H., Cindy S., and Jim L. for spending their Saturday morning with us. Half of our volunteers were experiencing WHAM for the first time! New friendly faces are ALWAYS welcome to join in.

New WHCA Board Member Cindy’s tool of choice for WHAM is a broom and dustpan – super effective against small debris like cigarette butts and the sort.

10 Giant Trash Bags Filled

We packed 42-gallon contractor bags full of wrappers, butts, bottles and some other unidentifiable pieces of trash. On top of that, we collected some large items (including a TV) and something remarkably unpleasant-smelling inside an abandoned plastic storage tote.

Laurel and Joel were so dedicated to cleaning up around the 7-Eleven that they waded right into thorn-filled blackberry bushes to reach long-neglected litter.

7 Nevzat’s Espresso Drinks Served

One of the perks of joining the WHAM crew on Saturday was a free drink token for Nevzat’s Espresso! Volunteers cashed them in for hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and other tasty beverages.

We hooked our volunteers up with the perfect thing for a cool day – a nice hot drink made with love from Nevzat himself.

1 Rotten Lobster Head Found

WHCA Board President Jeremy wins the award for the strangest (grossest) find: a rotting, severed lobster head. Congrats(?!), Jeremy.

West Hill Action Mob - WHAM Spring Cleanup- 2019-04-20 - Vicky
Vicky, a new WHAM volunteer, was on a mission and couldn’t wait to get out there after being frustrated for years at the build up of litter in our neighborhood.

Thank you to all our volunteers

Be sure to sign up for WHAM Alerts straight to your inbox so you don’t miss the next opportunity to challenge your neighbors to see who finds the grossest or oddest item on our streets.

Another successful WHAM Spring Cleanup in the books (and the dumpster!).

Lastly, a big thanks to King County Community Service Area (CSA) Grant Program for the support and to Seth and Selina at King County Community Work Program for hauling away the whole trash pile for us despite being seriously understaffed.

And hey, neighbor – did you know that in just a couple minutes, you can also help sustain great programs in your neighborhood like WHAM by becoming a monthly donor to your all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit West Hill Community Association (even $5/month helps)!

West Hill Action Mob - WHAM Spring Cleanup- 2019-04-20 - Group
From left: Patty, Neal, Beth, Joel, Laurel, Devin, Jeremy. Not pictured but just as awesome: Mary, Vicky, Miki, Cindy and Jim.