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Release Date: August 30, 2011 City of San Antonio Communications Office: 207-7234 City's Graffiti Abatement Program encourages residents to volunteer to help wipe out graffiti -September proclaimed as Graffiti Wipeout Volunteer Days- Nationally, each year, graffiti costs Americans more than $8 billion, according to GraffitiHurts.org, while also hurting property values and driving away businesses. Locally, the City of San Antonio abates more than 3.5 million square feet of graffiti each year-and it is done with the help of hundreds of local volunteers as committed as the City is to stopping graffiti. To encourage more San Antonians to join the City in helping wipe out graffiti, the City of San Antonio and its Code Enforcement Services Department announced at a press conference held today at Olympia Park, 2101 Basse Rd., that the month of September would be proclaimed as Graffiti Wipeout Volunteer Days. "The City is encouraging citizens to become more actively engaged in fighting the problem our city faces with graffiti, not just during the month of September, but all year long," said Marc A. Castro, Code Enforcement Services Interim Director. "We want residents to not only take action by volunteering to paint over unwanted graffiti, but by also becoming informed advocates to help spread awareness through education." As part of its education efforts, the Code Enforcement Services Department donated copies of the children's book "Graffiti in Tahiti" by Victoria Wilson-Merritt, international graffiti expert, to every public elementary school in San Antonio and surrounding areas. Volunteers will treat nearly 3,000 San Antonio fourth graders to a special reading of the book throughout September. There are various ways that residents can assist with helping combat graffiti in San Antonio. The City's Code Enforcement Department, in partnership with other organizations, provides programs throughout the entire year that San Antonians can participate in. For a list of available programs or for more information on how to volunteer to help wipeout graffiti, visit www.sanantonio.gov/ces/graffiti.aspx or call Code Enforcement Services at 207-BUFF (2833). |
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