For the past few months, Thomas Holden has led a group of Willow Glen residents in biweekly cleanups of the neighborhood’s streets. The group has filled hundreds of trash bags with litter and debris, and they’ve come to somewhat jokingly calling themselves “Holden’s Heroes.”

It all started with a dog named Bunny.

Holden’s floppy-eared German Shepherd has become a bit of a celebrity in the neighborhood. Holden said more people probably know her name than his. She’s a big dog who likes long walks, so Holden used to take her through town. But after being stopped frequently by someone who wanted to pet Bunny, he decided they needed a more covert route.

A volunteer holds up a bag of trash picked up under an overpass along Highway 280. Biweekly cleanups organized by Willow Glen resident Thomas Holden have attracted as many as 19 volunteers. Holden has scheduled another cleanup event for Jan. 10, after Santa Clara County’s “shelter in place” order is scheduled to be lifted. (Courtesy photo) 

One day this summer, Holden and Bunny went on a new walk that took them under the Highway 280 overpass where it intersects Third Street. They came across what Holden describes as “literally a wall of broken glass” along the pedestrian and bike lanes there.

“We couldn’t get by, and of course I’m worried about my dog. And so we go into traffic,” Holden laughed. “We got the horns and all the other wonderful stuff that comes along with it.”

He came back the next day with a trash bag to see if he could clear the path so other pedestrians didn’t have to veer into the street. He said he was at it for about 20 minutes when he started to realize just how big the problem was, so he went back the next weekend.

“For a few months, I just kept chipping away at myself,” Holden said. “I realized I just can’t keep up.”

He put out a call on NextDoor, a social media platform for neighbors, and he didn’t get any bites at first. The next time he went out, a few unhoused residents pitched in—one man filled about 15 trash bags by himself over the course of two hours. Holden was so impressed that he went back to NextDoor to tell that story. The next time he went out, three more people—Rebecca Schetter, Nick Lam and Max Ridenour—showed up to help.

Eventually, 19 people came to lend a hand at one Sunday cleaning event.

“Wow, that absolutely blew my mind,” Holden said. “Having the community come together to really take care of itself is really wonderful.”

Holden and the volunteers have tackled several different areas of the neighborhood, finding things like burned-out shopping carts and discarded couches. Holden once found a stolen cash register that still had $2 in change inside.

The group meets up every other Sunday at a location Holden scouts ahead of time. The group’s final 2020 clean was scheduled for mid-December, but Holden called off the event “out of an abundance of caution” due to the shelter-in-place order. He plans to be back at it on Jan. 10.

“I already have people saying they are coming then, and one is bringing breakfast burritos for everyone,” he said in a text.

Holden said he has gotten some support from city officials, who have helped provide him with trash bags, pickers and vests. After a cleanup, he tells a city staffer where the bags are, and a crew comes to pick them up the next day.

“They’ve been very supportive,” he said.

He said he’s less concerned about whether residents should be the ones cleaning up the street, and more inspired by residents’ willingness to get their hands dirty for the good of the neighborhood.

“I like the fact that the community is coming together to do this,” he said. “And if in some way, shape or form, it sends a message to the city that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, then I think there’s a positive.”