ORLANDO, Fla. — Every morning, Angel Sanchez leaves his home in search of trash.
- Angel Sanchez started daily morning walks for fitness
- Vietnam vet has made it his mission to keep his neighborhood clean
- He also says clean neighborhood has led to safer neighborhood
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"It's a mission for me," he said.
Sanchez started his daily walk in his Orange County neighborhood to get healthy.
"I started this to basically help me lose weight," he said.
But he soon found himself filling up several plastic bags with trash every day.
"There are days it takes about four or five bags," Sanchez said.
He's found everything from working smartphones to chicken bones.
"It's a mission to keep my neighborhood looking nice," he said. "It's a mission to keep my property values, and the property values of my neighbors, from deteriorating."
And it's his mission to keep crime out.
"They're going to think twice, because they're going to know that people are paying attention," Sanchez said.
And he says it's working.
"We haven't had any incidents in this neighborhood in three years," Sanchez said.
Sanchez started his daily cleanup about four years ago. At one point, one of his neighbors mistakenly reported him as a suspicious person to law enforcement.
"He asked me who I was, and I identified myself, and once we started talking, he completely relaxed and said, 'Thank you for what you're doing. It makes my job easier,' " Sanchez said.
For Sanchez, it doesn't come without some pain.
"I'm not going to lie — it hurts."
Sanchez's military service in Vietnam led to three back surgeries, a replaced knee and him losing part of one of his feet.
"I'm willing to go through a little pain to keep my neighborhood looking nice," he said. "I'll be doing this every single morning for the rest of my life."
