Several months ago, Brian Harrington was sitting in an auto repair shop browsing Facebook after getting a flat tire. When he found a post complaining about trash in front of the Dartmouth Walgreens, he sprung into action.

The Odies Place Animal Rescue owner and community volunteer cleaned the entire area himself, in the rain, the very same day. When he posted his accomplishment to the Dartmouth community Facebook page Dartmouth Helping Dartmouth, he had an even bigger idea: regular community clean-ups.

The first event of its kind was held on May 20, although attendance was less than anticipated. Originally planned as a weekend-long event, Saturday’s cleanup, which 14 people had signed up for in advance, was cancelled due to the weather.

About six people turned out on Sunday in two different locations to clean up the town: Route 6, and Jones Park. For four hours, the volunteers cleaned up Route 6 from the New Bedford Country Club to Route 140 and the beach and park area at Jones Park.

In total, 17 bags of trash were cleared from Route 6, and an entire bag of trash at Jones Park.

Harrington said he was not quite sure what to expect in terms of attendance seeing as it’s the first time he’s tried something like this in Dartmouth. He had previously worked on similar programs in New Bedford.

“That’s still a lot of trash being picked up by the six people here today,” Harrington said. “If it’s 60 or six people they’re still making the environment a little bit cleaner than it was yesterday.”

At future events he’s in the process of planning, Harrington said he hopes to involve the town more to boost participation.

Tommy Oliveira, Jaiden Martinez, and Tami Martin-Oliveira were stationed at Jones Park, and spent the day cleaning trash from along the beach and in the BBQ pit area.

“We live here, and this is a great park that people take advantage of, but people don’t leave it they way they found it,” Martin-Oliveira said as she scooped some trash into a plastic bag.

Tommy added nowhere is totally clean, and it takes someone willing to pitch in to cause change.