If you’re looking for an organization to work with to gain community service hours, Overdue LA is the perfect way to do so. Overdue LA is a small impactful non-profit organization looking to transform Los Angeles from trash-littered streets to a beautiful city prepped for the next generation. Started by Maxwell Suwaki, a concerned LA citizen, Overdue LA is an amazing way to help clean up LA and get in easy community service hours.
According to Suwaki’s website description, Suwaki and a few friends relocated from Portland to Los Angeles, and were shocked by how dirty they found the city. They were questioning, how can we be okay with children living amongst this amount of trash? What message are we teaching them by not doing anything to clean it up?
They began their mission and continue to relentlessly clean up LA everyday for two months. So far, they and volunteers have collected more than 7500 pounds of trash around Woodland Hills and Canoga Park and have expanded their coverage to Malibu Beach and illegal dumpsites throughout the city.
“We do cleanups to save the trash from going into the drains and eventually end up in the beautiful ocean surrounding us,” Suwaki said on his go fund me page.
Everyday, Suwaki and volunteers gather at a predetermined location and time, varying from beaches, parks, shopping centers, parking lots, and sidewalks. Times often vary based on schedule and volunteers are advised to bring trash grabbers and any type of pet, especially dogs.
Volunteers arrive at the set location and are outfitted with gloves, a trash bag, a recycle bag, and are sent out on their own to find and pick up trash nearby. Near the end of the session, the volunteers regroup to weigh the trash they picked up and take a group photo before leaving.
Overdue LA’s mission is to make our world a better place for our generation, and generations to come. They have an Instagram (@itisoverdue) where they celebrate the work they do everyday through before and after photos, as well as the weight count of trash they pick up each day. The cleanups have an amazing effect on the community and are organized to preserve our mental health, as well as the state of where we live! Overdue LA hoped to recruit consistent high school and middle school volunteers and expand further into the younger generations to promote their movement.
“Together, we believe that we can make this area the cleanest in the nation. To achieve our goal, we need your help to set a standard that transforms this awesome neighborhood into a beautiful, liveable city,” Suwaki said.
Not only is Overdue LA an amazing cause to work with, but it is also an amazing way to get in easy community service hours. Each clean-up with Overdue is only a few hours long, and with it being so local to most Harvard-Westlake students, why not take advantage of the opportunity?
My own experience with Overdue has been amazing. The volunteers and organizers couldn’t be kinder, and you feel as though you are a part of a community. I recommend working with Overdue to anyone looking for community service hours as well as a way to improve our city and environment.
