Central Oregonians raising funds to buy garbage truck for homeless camp cleanups

(Update: Adding video, comments)

'The community response has been fantastic'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- After two recent cleanup operations by the Oregon Department of Transportation near Bend's Murphy Road and Revere Avenue sparked concern, some residents are working on one solution to keep homeless camps clean, with trash pickup on a regular basis.

Jon Riggs, the founder of the local nonprofit Helpers, is working on purchasing a garbage truck to assist those experiencing homelessness through cleanup operations.

"The mentality or the outlook that people in society have about houseless population is that they're just trashy humans that don't want to work," Riggs said.

And Riggs says he's hoping to change that perception and focus on solutions.

"If we can take care of the trash problem, then we can convince societies to start to focus on the real issues," Riggs said. "Mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, so on and so forth."

After finding the truck on Craiglist in Roseburg, Riggs secured a down payment, and since they started fundraising just 2 weeks ago, they've already received $5,000 in donations.

"The community response has been fantastic," Riggs said.

But they still need to raise another $3,000 to reach their overall goal of $8,000 to make the purchase.

And Riggs says he also hopes to provide jobs for the homeless.

"Creating small jobs that would allow them to be able to make a small wage, but not come with the same requirements as a normal job, like showering every day," Riggs said. "These are things that they're up against, and needs that they have without access."

Riggs says he knows they still have a long road ahead, but he's actively communicating with local leaders and garbage dumps to pull off the operation.