Cleanups Are Back: Join Us! 

Volunteers from Ismaili CIVIC joined other community members in picking up more than 25 bags of trash during a recent Community Cleanup event.

“Talking trash” can be a good thing – if you’re talking about the Community Cleanups staged every second Saturday by the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre!

After a lull during earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the program is back in full swing. Community members are invited to register in advance (see below *).
“We’ll stroll through a neighbourhood at 10am looking for trash that can fit in our bag,” says HSCPC volunteer Sampson Hsieh. “We provide the equipment – safety vest, gloves, tongs and bags.
“Each participant gets different things out of it. We have student participants attend as it’s part of their school volunteer requirements. We’ve had friends and families attend as an activity to do together. I’ve had a father bring his son and daughter, to set an example what it’s like to be a grown-up. I’ve also had participants attend just to meet different people.
“They all leave feeling satisfied, knowing that they made a difference in the community.”

Covid protocols are followed, although fresh air and natural spacing make it a safe shared activity.
“We provide lunches for the team when community members join us in order to give something back and thank them for their time,” adds Carmen MacLeod, program leader. “Throughout Covid, we changed our lunches from shared meals, like pizza, to individually wrapped meals, such as sub sandwiches.
“When larger group events are put on, we give out goodie bags for each volunteer to take home as a thank you gift for their participation. In the future, when Covid is not an issue, we will go back to ordering pizza or making hot dogs for everyone after the cleanups and have more of an intimate lunch after.”

* For cleanup dates, see hscpc.com. To register, email us at info@hscpc.com or phone 604-717-3584. First-time participants must fill out a form. If you are under age 18, you’ll need a parent or guardian to sign it as well.