Keep Bakersfield Beautiful is gearing up for the year ahead and wants your support.

Earth month is in April, and the Keep Bakersfield Beautiful team says they are already preparing for two large events that month. One is to celebrate 20 years of the group's commitment to the community, and also the Great American Clean-up. Organizers say they are working on more ways to continue to help clean our neighborhoods.

“A committee to help empower the individuals in our community to make this place a more beautiful home and place to visit,” says Jessica Felix with Keep Bakersfield Beautiful.

Felix adds that the majority of volunteers, which over the decades has been over 130,000, have cleaned over 4 million pounds litter, illegal dumping and debris. Volunteers also help build and maintain community gardens, planting trees, and decorating utility boxes.

The utility box mural program has a sponsorship as well and helps get local artists engaged and involved with the community. Felix says that they are working on revamping these programs, and uses community input to do so, calling it “a committee for the community by the community..”

The Keep Bakersfield Beautiful team held a special strategic planning meeting Saturday morning to chalk out their plan for the year and also add more initiatives. They say more details will be released in the coming weeks, including for their main event in April, where organizers hope they can have thousands of volunteers help clean communities.

Felix says that the group is always looking for more people to get involved.

“If you want to volunteer in this town, Keep Bakersfield Beautiful can put you to work, trust us,” says Felix.

If you are interested in being a volunteer or getting involved, you can find more information at the website, KeepBakersfieldBeautiful.u-s. There, you can find ways to volunteer, news about events going on, and sponsorship opportunities as well.