An environmental organizer in Pico Union is teaming up with the mayor’s office and its Shine LA initiative, along with other local organizations, to clean up the neighborhood around MacArthur Park.
As someone who grew up in Pico Union, Aurora Corona remembers visiting MacArthur Park as a little girl while attending the Catholic school Immaculate Conception in the 9th Street corridor. She recalled visiting the little shops, going to the movies, and even taking boat rides on the lake with her parents.
“This work is personal for me because I grew up here. I remember MacArthur Park when it was full of life. I’d walk there. The nuns from my school used to take us to the park just to have fun, and we’d also go to the Westlake Theatre,” she said. “Those memories are a big part of why I’m committed to helping restore this space for today’s families.”
Corona launched a yearly cleanup initiative in February 2024. The first two years she led the event while also serving on the Pico Union Neighborhood Council, and now she continues the effort as a board member of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance — an organization that advocates for everything from climate action to energy, transportation and planting trees across neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
In previous years, more than 250 people volunteered for the cleanup event around MacArthur Park. The event is named “Love My Community.”
This year, the event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 8 a.m. to noon. Volunteers will meet at 6th Street and South Park View Street.
Volunteers will be separated into teams that will be out around the park, focusing on litter removal, bulky item pickup, graffiti reporting and sidewalk sweeping. Community members, neighborhood councils, city representatives and local partners are expected to attend.
The Westlake South Neighborhood Council is donating tacos for all volunteers.
At this year’s cleanup there will also be a Sustainability Resource Fair highlighting green, community-based organizations. Corona said volunteers are encouraged to bring reusable water bottles to avoid plastic waste as part of the day’s sustainability efforts. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is expected to provide a water trailer for refills.
Honoria Reyna Roblero has lived in Koreatown for the past 20 years. She’s been a part of helping keep MacArthur Park clean since the first “Love My Community” event.
“Even though I don’t live right next to the park, it’s important to me. I love walking there, I love the water, the birds around the lake,” Roblero said. “It’s one of the closest parks to me, where my family can go and enjoy ourselves.”
Council District 1 has supported the event every year, and this year Corona has partnered with the mayor’s Shine LA initiative, bringing additional volunteers and visibility to the effort.
“For me, it’s a pleasure to put in my little grain of sand, along with my family, to help keep the park clean,” Roblero said. “I think when each of us does our part, we’re able to better maintain our community.”
This year’s cleanup coincides with Mayor Karen Bass’ Shine LA initiative. The program aims to help beautify communities across the city ahead of several major events, including the FIFA World Cup later this year, the Super Bowl in Inglewood in 2027 and the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Bass’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Shine LA.
The initiative was launched last April and has brought together more than 2,000 Angelenos for days of service in more than 30 neighborhoods across Los Angeles and takes place in a different neighborhood every fourth Saturday of the month.
Volunteers have participated in activities ranging from tree planting and utility box painting to litter cleanup and composting workshops in neighborhoods including San Pedro, Koreatown, Pacoima, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and South L.A.
“Shine LA inspires Angelenos to take pride in preparing their communities to step onto the world stage,” according to Shine LA’s mission on its website.
While the city keeps its eye on an international audience, Corona is focused on her community.
She advocates for younger generations to get involved in these types of events, so they can start to take the lead.
Looking back, Corona remembers how significantly the park changed over the decades.
As a young girl, she recalls it was beautiful, filled with ducks, wildlife and families who would enjoy the lake. But after leaving Pico Union and returning in the 1990s, she started noticing more trash, a growing number of people experiencing homelessness and others who would wander the park aimlessly.
Police, social services, Councilmember Ed Reyes’ office, and faith-based organizations partnered in the early 2000s to provide help and outreach in MacArthur Park, and for a while, Corona said, it seemed to work.
“Now it’s a park that has been overtaken by people who need help and need services, they tend to gather at the park. It’s sad that younger kids grow up seeing this as the reality of what the park is like. But it wasn’t always like that. It was a vibrant area. Stores were open. What you see right now is not what it was,” Corona said. “My dream is to get back the park, so others can enjoy it.”
Beyond that, for Corona, cleaning up the park is also about environmental sustainability.
“The trash that’s left on the streets gets carried into the storm drains, flows into the ocean, marine life suffers, and then we suffer because it all circles back,” Corona said. “So it’s super important that people realize keeping your community clean is a health issue for everyone. But also, keeping our streets and environment clean makes people feel pride in the community they live in.”