The San José State University co-ed fraternity Delta Sigma Pi has signed a one-year contract with the city of San Jose to regularly maintain the avenue through the Adopt-a-Street program. Natalie Nguyen, the fraternity's vice president of community service, anticipates members will visit the avenue once or twice a month to pick up debris that accumulates in planter boxes and curbs and on benches.

On April 12, as temperatures hovered in the 50s and driving rain battered the few residents who had braved the weather to do some shopping, some 30 members of Delta Sigma Pi donned fluorescent orange mesh vests and work gloves and hit the avenue with litter sticks.

Despite the weather, they were cheerful about their mission.

"We want to give back to the community," said Andrew Ho, 18, a San José State University freshman. "It seems like a really good cause, and we want to be a part of that."

Tina Chinn agreed.

"This is the first time we've adopted a street," said Chinn, a 22-year-old SJSU senior. "We're excited about it."

Delta Sigma Pi, founded in 1971, has a long history of public service in the Bay Area, with recent projects including beach cleanups, KTEH pledge drives, benefit dinners and volunteer work with Sacred Heart Church in San Jose. While the fraternity members focus on developing professionally by improving résumé writing and job interviewing skills and networking with the business community, members devote equal time to philanthropy, Nguyen said.

"Our goal is to be professional while at the same time giving back to the community," she said.

In developing ideas for additional public service projects, the fraternity approached Carrie Wright of the Adopt-a-Street program in late January, and Wright searched for several weeks for an appropriate street for them to maintain.

"Because it's such a large fraternity I wanted to give them an area that would be big enough for them to maintain but not a place they'd have to come out and take care of every day," Wright said.

The fraternity considered several other streets before choosing Lincoln Avenue.

"Each one had its pros and cons but Willow Glen was the final pick," Nguyen said. "It's a nice community we wanted to get involved in."

City cleaning crews currently visit the avenue every other week, and garbage is picked up daily except for Sundays. A periodic series of "power washings" throughout the year began last November, about the same time that the avenue's few and poorly spaced garbage containers were replaced by 50 new green steel cans concentrated near heavily trafficked areas. A "porter service" also visits six days a week for three hours a day to wipe down fixtures and remove graffiti.

Because Lincoln Avenue is a major shopping destination, however, additional cleaning crews are always necessary, said Wright.

"There's a lot of foot traffic and a lot of cars there," she said. "The litter accumulates pretty quickly. It would be great if they could go out there every other week, but I think that would be requesting a lot from them. If they went out there just once a month, that would be fabulous. It's a service to us and the community."