More than 500 people cleaned up trash, painted over graffiti and made other improvements in the Melrose Avenue shopping district on May 16 as part of a community-wide effort organized by the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch.

Hundreds of volunteers cleaned up the Melrose Avenue shopping district during an event sponsored by the local neighborhood watch on May 23. (photo courtesy of Paul Lerner)

The event ran from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Melrose Avenue, between La Brea and Fairfax Avenues, and participants fanned out along the street and in adjacent alleys to spruce up the area. The event was considered a big success by its organizers, Peter Nichols and Paul Lerner, co-founders of the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch.

“We have a popular neighborhood, but sometimes there is trash on the streets or graffiti,” Lerner said. “We did it once before in October of 2008, but we would like for it to be an annual event.”

The project included members of the neighborhood watch, as well as the Melrose Avenue business community. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division also pitched in, as did dozens of students from Fairfax High School. Joyce Kleifield, community representative and director of development at Fairfax High School, said the students’ participation was part of an effort at the school to get students more involved.

“One of the things we are doing at Fairfax High is trying to make sure the students are aware that they are part of a much larger community, and that they have a responsibility to participate in that community’s upkeep, ” Kleifield said. “We are actually a resource for improving things in the community. This was a great collaborative effort, and Melrose sure looked a lot nicer on Monday.”

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th District, also participated in the clean up, and said he was amazed at the number of people involved.

“Melrose is famous throughout the world, but it hasn’t always been treated that way, and projects like this help us bring the community back,” Koretz added. “As we are trying to attract businesses to the area during the beginning of this economic recovery, projects like this are very important.”