Joe O’Malley has been living in a tent in Gainesville since September. His home, part of a homeless camp known as Tent City, was surrounded by car batteries, beer bottles and other trash, which had been accumulating there for years.
On Saturday, he skipped a free breakfast at Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist Church to join other residents in picking up trash as part of the Great American Cleanup, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful.
Volunteers met at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center, where they were equipped with trash bags, orange vests and paint a for a blitz on the city’s graffiti and garbage. Locations included Alligator Alley, Tent City and local schools.
Mickie MacKenzie, executive director of Keep Alachua County Beautiful, said this marked the 15th year of the cleanup in Gainesville. She said she did not have an estimate yet for how many volunteers attended, but said 500 came out last year.
