RAMPART : Residents to Take Part in Cleanup

Residents will paint, sweep, pick up trash and generally give the Rampart district a good scrubbing Saturday as part of the citywide Operation Sparkle cleanup.

The city-sponsored effort began in the San Fernando Valley in 1989. and has been expanded to Central Los Angeles for the first time this year.

Residents from the five divisions of the LAPD’s Central Bureau--Central, Hollenbeck, Newton, Northeast and Rampart--will participate, said Sgt. Mike Diaz of the Rampart Division’s community relations office.

Rampart-area volunteers can pick up equipment such as brooms, shovels, paint, brushes and gloves--most of it donated by area businesses--at 12 staging areas beginning at 8 a.m.

“We’re going to concentrate on graffiti, cleaning storm drains, painting telephone and light poles, painting faded red zones on curbs and trimming trees,” said Elaine Saldivar, secretary of the Rampart Rangers East Hollywood Neighborhood Watch and coordinator of the staging area at Lockwood Elementary School, 4345 Lockwood Ave.

“We’ll be concentrating mostly on picking up litter and bulky items from the sidewalk,” said Victor Hercules, a community liaison for St. Vincent Medical Center in Westlake who will supervise another staging location at Tommy’s hamburger stand, 2575 Beverly Blvd.

Residents’ pickup trucks will supplement city trucks in picking up discarded furniture and appliances, and the hospital will donate a trash bin, he said.

Participants are invited to the Rampart Division’s 27th anniversary open house and barbecue at the station, 2710 West Temple St., after the cleanup, which is scheduled to end at 1 p.m. Food will be donated by the Korean Restaurant Owners Assn., Diaz said.

Information: (213) 485-4080. Residents outside Rampart may call (800) 749-CITY.