Athens Services to the Rescue!

Athens Services workers clean up two weeks’ worth of trash at a shopping center in Maywood, California. The city brought Athens in on an emergency basis to help for the holidays after it lost its hauling service.

When the city of Maywood, California, found itself suddenly facing the busy holidays without trash service, Athens Services stepped in to save the day.

With the holidays fast approaching, the city of Maywood, California – 6 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, with a population of just under 28,000 – suddenly found itself with a big problem: No trash or recycling service. The city reached out to Athens Services to help on an emergency basis during the busy season.

Athens quickly mobilized, recruiting a team of 20-plus drivers to provide bulky-item pickup service on the day after Thanksgiving. Regular trash and recycling service for commercial and residential customers resumed on Saturday, November 30.

The cleanup project was led by Athens’ Raul “Raulito” De Leon, a 40-plus-year veteran with plenty of trash experience. The city had been without service for two weeks. Raulito spent several days and nights combing the streets in search of overflowing bins and abandoned bulky items, to make sure no trash was left behind.

“Athens has a service philosophy that we ‘leave it better than we found it,’” says Division Vice President Efrain Solivan. “This is The Athens Way: Service – People – Environment.”

Solivan oversaw the division that carried out the rapid response under a very tight timeframe. At a shopping center at the corner of Atlantic Boulevard and Slauson Avenue, crews cleaned up several large piles of trash and recycling in short order.

“At this particular location, it took three workers, 15 bin dumps, and roughly 30 minutes to clean up the mess,” Solivan adds. “The end result: A clean area, better than we found it.”

Athens also rushed to get the word out immediately to customers through social media, reaching hundreds of residents. Even city officials got into the spirit, using their platforms to reach out. Response from residential and commercial customers has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We are very thankful, and we saw right away the difference in service,” one resident said. “We appreciate you for bringing cleanliness to our city again. Thank you, and welcome to the City of Maywood.”