One of the many volunteers in this year's "Pick up and Walk" event.
The numbers were down in this years’ “Pick up and Walk” community clean up event in Steinbach this past Saturday, May 7th, but far more garbage was collected, 8.5 tons to be exact which is 3 more tons than last year. There is no doubt that the city streets, parks, side roads, open areas, ditches, boulevards, and culverts are significantly cleaner.
The event was previously scheduled for April 30 but was rained out for the first time since the event began in 2006. As a result, just under 600 enthusiastic volunteers showed up at the TG Smith arena to pick up their routes, maps, gloves and bright yellow t-shirts to fill garbage bags along their route. Many of the ditches and culverts were still filled with a significant amount of water so reports of rubber boots filled with muddy water were heard throughout the arena during the free lunch held for the volunteers. Eldon Wallman, the City of Steinbach, Solid Waste Dept Head, is thankful for the support. “Last Saturday was a great day for City of Steinbach residents. They really came through with 2 annual events held that day, our Pick up and Walk Day as well as our Hazardous Waste collection day. Regardless of the numbers of volunteers being slightly lower because it was a rain date, we still managed to collect a record amount of garbage. In just 3 hours, over 8.5 tonnes of trash was cleaned up within the City boundaries. Our 6th annual Hazardous Waste Day was again successful with 400 vehicles coming through our collection point and a full semi load of hazardous material was removed from the residences of Steinbach.”
The churches of Steinbach showed solidarity in supporting the event together. Stan Friesen, pastor of the Chortizer Mennonite Church shared, “as a church we really appreciated the opportunity to participate and our volunteers enjoyed helping clean up our city working alongside the other churches.” A significant amount of support also came from local businesses. Grace Hiebert, one of the organizers of the event said, “So many businesses really stepped up to the plate this year, more than in years past, to show their support both financially and through the donation of product.” These businesses include: Bake World, Barkman Concrete, Canadian Gold Beverages Inc., Centum Mortgage Express, Century 21, Diamond Construction, Earl’s Meats, Gislason Targownik Peters, Harvest Insurance, Horizon Livestock & Poultry, Lacocina, McDonalds, Penner Trailer Sales, Safeway, S.A.R., Shear Effects, Smith Neufeld Jodoin, Sobeys, Steinbach Credit Union, Steinbach Flooring Canada, Superstore, Threeway Builders, Tim Hortons, and WS Machining.
The planned date for Pick up and Walk 2012 is Saturday, April 28.
