The UA's Circle K International group helped clean up Greasewood Park. Among those helping make the park prettier were, from left, Katrina Skuba, Jhun Guevarra, Danielle Blanchard and Gabriel Pingitore.

Chris Richards / Arizona Daily Star

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Are you part of a local civic organization that is hard-pressed for ideas on how to volunteer in the community?

If so, then Tucson Clean & Beautiful has a park with your name on it.

Or a street. Or a wash.

In operation since 1985, Tucson Clean & Beautiful is a nonprofit group that has served as a facilitator of environmental volunteer projects throughout the city of Tucson and eastern Pima County. Its main program is Adopt-a-Park, which for more than 20 years has helped to clean up litter at parks, roads and other public areas.

More than 110 sites throughout the eastern half of the county are currently maintained by roughly 180 different community groups, said B.J. Cordova, director of development and community outreach for Tucson Clean & Beautiful.

"The intent of the program is, of course, to clean up litter, but we also ask groups to report maintenance concerns, like graffiti or vandalism, damaged or missing equipment, potholes in parking lots," said Cordova, who usually tries to match up an organization with a nearby area to oversee.

A little more than a year ago, Cordova linked up Luz Social Services with Rodeo Wash Park, a small neighborhood park at South Ninth Avenue and West Michigan Drive.

"It's kind of a hidden park, but you can tell it's well-used by the neighborhood," said David Jimenez of Luz, a nonprofit group that has provided health and human services to Tucson's Hispanic community since 1971. "For some of the community members, it's pretty much all they have."

Luz went through a three-month evaluation period during which they were required to tend to Rodeo Wash Park at least twice a month and send in reports to Tucson Clean & Beautiful chronicling their efforts and any maintenance concerns.

If the group intends on continuing its work after three months, Cordova said Tucson Clean & Beautiful will erect a sign and hold a ceremony, with either the City Council member or county supervisor for that area in attendance.

"It's a really good program," Jimenez said. "They'll provide you with materials, like paint, or bags for picking up garbage. Before the park we did stuff all over. We thought we might as well have a specific place."

While many groups stick to a specific area that they tend to on a regular basis, groups like the University of Arizona's chapter of Circle K International just go where they are needed.

That meant sending a group of about 20 UA students to Greasewood Park, 1075 N. Greasewood Road, for several hours one Saturday last month.

"We just cleaned up anything we could see," said Jhun Guevarra, a junior and past president of the UA's Circle K International.

Guevarra said Circle K International, which is the collegiate arm of worldwide service organization Kiwanis International, does various types of volunteer projects, and working with Tucson Clean & Beautiful just fit well with their mission.

"It's everyone's community," said Guevarra, whose group has also done cleanup efforts at Estevan Park, 1000 N. Main Ave. "Everything reflects how the community is. If it's clean, it makes everyone feel better about the park."

Cordova said groups that are interested in adopting a park or public area will have plenty of places to choose from, though he says most of the central part of the city is well-covered. He said the areas most in need are on the Northwest Side, as well as along the Santa Cruz River.

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