East Vancouver volunteers help take back neighbourhood ‘rocked with graffiti’

Almost every weekend, Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre volunteers crack open the paint and work together to get rid of unwanted graffiti scrawled on walls and buildings.

A small army of dedicated citizens is making a big impact on graffiti vandalism in East Vancouver’s Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood.

Almost every weekend, volunteers with the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre crack open the paint and work together to get rid of unwanted graffiti scrawled on walls and buildings.

For Sampson Hsieh, who grew up in the neighbourhood, it’s personal.

“To me, it’s really important that we all take care of our community,” the HSCPC lead volunteer told Global News.

Hsieh has been volunteering since 2012 and currently leads the Saturday litter and graffiti clean-ups that have removed some 9,000 tags in the two decades since the HSCPC was founded.

“It’s actually a good feeling to be able to cover it all up and then restore it.”

If the tags are on private property, the HSCPC will get permission from businesses or owners before painting over them.

“It’s super important because we’ve gotten rocked with graffiti especially over COVID,” said HSCPC program leader Carmen MacLeod.