JCI Kootenay, in association with the World Clean Up Day Foundation, is assembling a community clean up event in Cranbrook and Kimberley on Saturday, September 21, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m..
Kimberley local Pamela Currie joined JCI Kootenay last year in search of a community-focused peer group that incorporated the ability to work with local businesses. She is officially the Chairperson for the event.
“I was quickly elected to the Secretary Executive role on the board and when the opportunity arose to chair the World Clean Up Day event I was excited because it offered the chance to blend a public event with community service,” Currie explained. “This area is our home which makes it incredibly important and deserving of care. A community is defined by the actions of its people and this event allowed me to create an opportunity of action; sometimes you have to build it.”
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She adds that the event is currently requesting community volunteers in both Kimberley and Cranbrook and continues to encourage specific clean up locations to be submitted by the public.
“Our goal is to clean without contributing, so efforts to minimize the event’s footprint have been taken as much as possible,” said Currie. “Local businesses like Cranbrook Culligan are offering refillable water stations on site, Mainroads is lending out their high visibility safety vests and Southeast Disposal is providing garbage and recycling bins in order to consolidate waste. It’s a community coming together.”
JAXaudio will be on hand in Kimberley providing music and both communities will see representation from Wildsite. JCI would also like to hear from any other organizations who would like to be involved. Currie adds that the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce has also been a big help in organizing the event.
The City of Kimberley is in support of the event as well, after Currie wrote to Council back in August to see if in-kind support was a possibility in the form of garbage collection.
Council agreed to help with the event and Mayor Don McCormick said that Council members will likely be out and about volunteering the day-of.
In a volunteer call-out JCI is asking all East Kootenay businesses and community members to participate in the clean up.
“This universal initiative is a social action program joining communities from around the world in one single and significant coordinated act of environmental reclamation,” JCI said in their letter. “Aimed at combating the solid waste and marine debris crisis, World Clean Up Day successfully coordinated 157 countries in 2018 with a reported 17.8 million volunteer participates and an estimated 82,280 tons of waste collected around the world.”
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The success of any Clean Up campaign is directly related to the involvement and dedication of its volunteers and as such community involvement is crucial, says Currie.
For event details or information on volunteer opportunities, email Pamela Currie, JCI Kootenay World Clean Up Day Chairperson at pamelacurrie5910@gmail.com or check out JCI Kootenay on Facebook.
corey.bullock@kimberleybulletin.com
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