{"id":26486,"date":"2026-09-20T07:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T07:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=26486"},"modified":"2026-09-20T07:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T07:06:07","slug":"a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunteer-group-has-removed-about-750000-pounds-of-trash-and-now-organises-valley-wide-cleanups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=26486","title":{"rendered":"A California retiree began picking up litter alone on daily walks in 2020; six years later, her volunteer group has removed about 750,000 pounds of trash and now organises valley-wide cleanups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134364495,imgsize-877096,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunteer-group-has-removed-about-750000-pounds-of-trash-and-now-organises-valley-wide-cleanups.jpg\" alt=\"A California retiree began picking up litter alone on daily walks in 2020; six years later, her volunteer group has removed about 750,000 pounds of trash and now organises valley-wide cleanups\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Life always has a purpose, and the fun part is that you get to decide it. You can spend a fine morning sleeping through it or volunteering your time for a purpose. For Jill Mather her retirement wasn&#8217;t going as planned.<!-- --> After decades of working 80-hour weeks in the restaurant business, she had dreamt of travelling, relaxing and spending time with old friends. But soon, COVID-19 struck and Jill was itching to do something.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>\u201cI can take a long walk at least,\u201d she told herself one morning, and headed out to stroll 4 miles through her San Fernando neighbourhood. She did it again the next day, but as she walked block after block, she noticed there was litter everywhere \u2014 cans, bottles and trash. <!-- -->The next morning she grabbed numerous plastic grocery bags and headed out on her walk with a renewed purpose. \u201cThat\u2019s a great idea,\u201d neighbours called out when they spotted Jill picking up trash.<!-- --> After a few days, she wondered, Would others like to walk with me?<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>Excited, she posted on the Nextdoor app: &#8216;I walk every morning and pick up trash. If you want to join, meet me in front of the coffee shop at 8 AM&#8217;. The next day, she was stunned to see a dozen people show up. She handed out bags and together, they cleaned up a nearby park.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>When they were all done, they went for a coffee. &#8220;When can we do this again?&#8221; everyone asked. Soon, every morning, Jill and a rotating crew gathered for two hours of walking and cleaning. She named her group Volunteers Cleaning Communities. They turned in recyclables found on streets, parks and a stretch of State Route 118 and used the cash to buy heavy-duty bags, vests and backpacks.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>After COVID restrictions lifted, more than 100 people began showing up at least once a week. To keep things interesting, Jill also organised a game night every third month and a monthly birthday celebration. VCC members have formed close friendships. One couple even met, fell in love and got married.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>\u201cThey are my new family,\u201d says Emilie Koster, a former UCLA volunteer. \u201cWhen COVID struck, we volunteers were the first to be sent home. Then I heard about VCC. It\u2019s easier to do something meaningful when you\u2019re with like-minded people.\u201d Over the past six years, VCC members have removed and disposed of nearly three-quarters of a million pounds of trash. \u201cAnd that doesn\u2019t include the larger items we set out for the city,\u201d Jill said to Woman&#8217;s World.<!-- --> \u201cWe get exercise, improve the community and make friends. It\u2019s a win all around.\u201d<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/us\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunteer-group-has-removed-about-750000-pounds-of-trash-and-now-organises-valley-wide-cleanups\/articleshow\/134364313.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life always has a purpose, and the fun part is that you get to decide it. You can spend a fine morning sleeping through it or volunteering your time for a purpose. For Jill Mather her retirement wasn&#8217;t going as planned. After decades of working 80-hour weeks in the restaurant business, she had dreamt of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Life always has a purpose, and the fun part is that you get to decide it. You can spend a fine morning sleeping through it or volunteering your time for a purpose. For Jill Mather her retirement wasn&#8217;t going as planned. After decades of working 80-hour weeks in the restaurant business, she had dreamt of [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":2,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-california-retiree-began-picking-up-litter-alone-on-daily-walks-in-2020-six-years-later-her-volunt-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}