Thousands of volunteers take part in Bay Area cleanups

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Thousands of people rolled up their sleeves, put on work gloves and helped preserve the environment on Saturday.

The event was to mark Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual event nationwide.

This year, the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose raised the stakes by challenging each other and their cities to a friendly competition.

They wanted to see which city could attract the most volunteers and collect the most trash.

The mayors called their competition: 'The Battle for the Bay.'

As of early Saturday morning, San Francisco was in the lead with 3,500 volunteers signing up, followed by 2,900 in Oakland, and 550 in San Jose.

But organizers said the time was still early, and with a pleasant day weather-wise, they expected a larger turnout.

KTVU's Sara Zendehnam reported at the San Francisco event, which included Mayor London Breed and State Senator Scott Wiener.