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From banana peels to roadkill, even hypodermic
needles, the Blue Glove Crew will carefully clean the
streets as they walk. “Anything larger than a matchbook
cover is kind of our litmus,” said Cain. They do find some
pretty interesting things though and have come through
in a pinch on several occasions. “We find credit cards, we
find phones at bus stops, and lots of cash!” Once they
found a whole envelope of money, on a street heavily
traveled by students, with “pizza” written on the side.
“Sure enough it was a classroom’s pizza money and we
saved the day by turning it in to that school’s office.” Just
one of many Blue Glove Crew success stories.
Cain works as the Executive Director of the Solano
Avenue Association and Stroll. Other crew members
include councilpersons, chamber members, even the
local health and safety commissioner joins them quite
frequently. “They all get a different view of the street,”
said Cain. They learn where every merchant vacancy is,
every pothole, and every opportunity for community
growth as they walk and help clean up.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Cain explains. “It’s
physically good for the environment, it’s physically good
for you, it’s emotionally good for you, and to top it all
off—it’s free!” Plus, once you’re finished, you can look
back to see a cleaner street; a job well done.
Blue Glove Crew is absolutely, 100% open to the
public. If you’d like to join the crew, or even if you’d
like to go just once to check it out, Cain invites you to
come with. If you could, give them a heads up that you’ll
be coming via their facebook page at facebook.com/
blueglovecrew. They meet up to prep at around 7:30 a.m.
at the BART tracks on Solano Ave. in Albany and start
walking at 8 a.m. They walk from there into Berkeley,
into El Cerrito, then back up and down Solano Ave. to
Albany. 5 miles total, about 1.5 hours of your life (1.75
on Mondays).
If you don’t live close enough and want to start up
your own crew, Cain has the following advice: “Be
careful what you pick up, how you pick it up, and make
sure you walk in the direction that traffic’s facing you,”
he said. “Just do it. Who cares what people think? I
believe life gives you back what you put into it.” So, put
in! Hope to see you out there, blue gloves and all.