MILWAUKEE — A community event brought kids and families together in the Harambee neighborhood to clean up the streets and bridges.

Twelve-year-old Atalya Winston and Kaylah Bentley cleaned up in their neighborhood on Saturday. It’s something they’re passionate about.

“I feel like it’s a great idea to be helping out the community and like cleaning the streets and stuff to have a better environment,” said Winston.

Their efforts have not only transformed the streets but also inspired them to be more organized in their own lives.

“I feel like I got a little more organized and been cleaning up a lot and helping out a lot,” said Bentley.

“When you clean up the streets, it’s basically like cleaning up your own house…just a little bit different,” said Winston.

Vanessa Britton-Winston, the leader behind the event, said it’s not just about cleaning bridges, it’s about building bridges between residents.

“Bridges is what connects us and so I wanted to bring the communities together in this project and so I invited families and children in the community,” Britton-Winston said.

Britton-Winston, who has been doing this for 12 years, said this year is the biggest cleanup she has ever done and wants to teach youth not to litter.

“It’s a need for us to come together and say this is not okay, and we teach our youth that this is not okay,” she said.

Her leadership has influenced youth in the neighborhood.

“It does make other people think like, ‘We should clean up the streets more,’” she said.

“It gives people an example to be more neat and cleaner and not litter,” said Bentley.

As a token of appreciation, kids got a $25 gift card and a hot meal donated from the restaurant Daq Shack.

“As I continue to work with our youth, I hear the parents now say, ‘Hey can you pick up my grandchild because I see a difference in my child,’ and that’s exciting to me,” said Britton-Winston.