Strength in Numbers : Volunteer Group Cuts Through Red Tape to Clean Up Town

The idea had the neighborly simplicity of a barn-raising and a ring of the Wild West.

“Give me 100 strong men,” Compton Mayor Omar Bradley said, “and we’ll clean up this town.”

And cleaning they are. The volunteer group called 100 Strong Men of Compton, which so far is actually only 49 men, has spruced up more than a mile of land along a drainage canal between Central and Wilmington avenues. For two weekends in October, they cleared weeds, shopping carts, old tires, even dead animals, out of the area.

The racially mixed group also spent a day repainting and landscaping the Camp Fire site on Raymond Street.

The list of things to do around town is growing as neighbors watch the volunteers work. Residents approach them frequently, suggesting projects such as cleaning up elementary schools, some of which resemble neglected military barracks.

The group plans to raise money first, and then paint, patch, weed and fix the roof of Ardella B. Tibby and Theodore Roosevelt elementary schools.

Melvin G. Stokes, a school janitor and president of 100 Strong Men, admits that the group is not entirely thrilled about cleaning up areas that are the responsibility of other institutions, such as the Compton Unified School District.

“But (the neglect) is something the adults did, and I don’t think the children should be held responsible,” Stokes said. “The kids need an atmosphere that’s conducive to learning. That’s the point.”

Recruitment for the volunteer group is a priority, especially as they look forward to big jobs like the school cleanups. Linger too long on a Compton street, or in conversation with a current “strong man” and you could be strong-armed into signing up before you know it, Stokes said laughing.

Even though the roster--which includes city officials, business owners, a school board member, ministers, medical technicians and attorneys--does not quite live up to the group’s name, the idea has created enough excitement to inspire a spinoff group. 100 Strong Women of Compton was formed by Bradley and his wife, Robin, after several women volunteered to work alongside the men. The women’s group also has about 50 members, including city councilwomen, a leader of the Samoan community, teachers, nurses and businesswomen.

The volunteer groups and the cleanup projects have been created without red tape, government grants, paid administrative staff or office supplies, the mayor proudly points out. 100 Strong Men meets once a month, in a restaurant or the City Council chambers, to discuss new projects. An eight-member board of directors votes on the group’s next project.

Without a charter or paid staff, the volunteers are held together by a strong sense of community.

“Our family is coming together. Our family is coming back,” said volunteer Gregory Ashley, to the nods and smiles of Stokes, Bradley and the group’s project chairman, Howard Swingler.

Looking out over a stretch of the graffiti-covered concrete canal that cuts through the city, the four men grew excited, talking about the work they did.

Thick weeds grew five feet high along both sides of the canal’s banks, they said.

“It looked like a jungle back here,” Bradley said. “And we had kids from the high school coming over here, smoking dope, getting in trouble, lighting fires. It was full of rats, dead dogs and trash. It was a hazard.”

Pointing to a house about 200 yards away, Bradley said the owner complained of his weathered wood fence being set on fire twice before volunteers cleared the brush.

Working under an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers, the men--and a few Strong Women--pulled everything out of the five-foot-wide walkway and threw it into the canal, where an Army Corps contractor would come haul it away.

The plan mostly worked, Bradley said, but the contractor missed a few sodden piles of weeds, a metal bed frame, chunks of roofing materials and other trash. Sticks of bamboo were scattered like green snakes, floating slowly downstream on an oily trickle of water. With their backs to the deep ditch, the small group talked about making the cleared area into a bike path.

Cleanup of the Camp Fire site on Raymond Street was easier. It took just one day for volunteers to comb the grounds for trash and paint the building. A city crew donated time and some equipment to mow the lawns.

The make-over for the two elementary schools will require more time and money, Stokes said.

Volunteers raised about $2,500 at an October pancake breakfast and spent part of it on tools, trash bags and refreshments during the canal cleanup. Another $2,500 might be needed for paint, tools, window replacements and roofing materials for each school, Stokes said.

The biggest job, Bradley said, will be painting the exterior of Tibby Elementary, where dark brown paint has been slapped over graffiti for years, giving the beige buildings the look of an elderly Dalmatian.

Seeing the work that already has been accomplished has inspired some volunteers to branch out with their good works. In January, the Strong Men are planning a dinner-dance fund-raiser to create a scholarship fund.

Bradley, who is solidly behind the scholarship plan, admits there is some dissension in the ranks.

“Some guys, they want to see us just do the physical labor because that’s what they like,” Bradley said. “But once they see those kids, gathering dollars that will help them go to college, they’ll see what good we can do.”

The scholarships will be a small part of their work, Bradley said. The Strong Men’s real commitment always will be the kind of weekend yard and housework they do around their own homes. Only now, the entire city has become their back yard.

INFORMATION:

For information or to volunteer with 100 Strong Men or 100 Strong Women of Compton, call President Melvin G. Stokes at (310) 719-2349 or Project Chairman Howard Swingler (213) 774-0807.