Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook is very pleased with the way the community clean up in both communities went this year.
On Saturday, April 20 alone, 140 people took part in clean up of public land and green spaces. And during the previous week, school groups, businesses and individuals joined the clean up as well.
On Saturday, April 20 as volunteers gathered at Western Financial Place in Cranbook and Centennial Hall in Kimberley to receive the event organizers’ instructions, routes, bags, and necessary personal protective equipment.
In Kimberley all 16 pre-decided routes were cleaned within the three hour time frame and 10 other areas within the week.
Andrea Chapman of Wildsight noticed the difference.
“Each area was noticeably tidy — now keep it clean everyone.”
Other highlights included
• Team Brooksy slaying the townsite hill and finding two bulging bags of returnables.
• Groups were more than happy to combine forces with a sole or pair of participants — potentially building new friendships in the process.
• The energetic repeat participants such as Team Rotary, who couldn’t wait to go back to their previous route, and were thrilled to discover there was indeed less garbage than last year.
In Cranbrook, it was the second year for the clean up and Ali Hadikin, Communications Coordinator for Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook said the event grew from the previous year and new faces were evident.
The Cranbrook organizers were pleased to see that the community was already looking cleaner than usual, but volunteers were able to add the finishing touches to many areas such as Victoria Ave, Joseph Creek, and Tamarack Mall. Right from the start, Team Sidekick set out to collect the most garbage and was eager to have the dirtiest possible area. The Goons, a Leslie Long Rescue volunteer team, brought enough energy to fuel the crowd for years to come.
After the event, organizers had the big job of picking prize winners from the categories of “Most Garbage Collected,” “Most Colourful Team,” and “Most Unique Garbage.” In Kimberley, those winners were Team Rotary, Team Dragon Monkeys, and Janice Regnier, respectively. In Cranbrook, those winners were Team Sidekick, Team Goons, and Tom Dewald.
The organizers including the Cities of Cranbrook and Kimberley, Mountain Pheonix Community Culture, and Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook would like to thank the involvement of those who attended as well as the organizations that donated either services, prizes, or equipment.
“I would like to share the most heartfelt thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting our communities in this way,” said Hadikin. “A strong community culture is developed by many hands, and we truly can’t do it without all of you!”
