The numbers were up again at the 10th annual Pick-up and Walk clean-up event held in Steinbach this past weekend. Over 1,300 volunteers showed up for the event this year compared to 1,200 last year. Steinbach Church participation was also up with 19 local Churches involved this year, two more than the previous year.
2015 Pick-up and Walk volunteers in front of the Automobile City monument.
Volunteers for the event included those picking up garbage, truck drivers who picked up filled bags along the routes and those who prepared and served the free barbecue lunch for all participants.
The amount of garbage picked up this year totaled 6.53 tons. Eldon Wallman, City of Steibach Solid Waste Dept Head, expressed his thanks to all involved, “What a great day for Pick up and Walk! To see the army of volunteers come together for just a few hours and do the amazing job they do is humbling, The City staff and the residents of Steinbach are so fortunate to have this event. Our community is a shining example and a model for all other communities to follow. A heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers, organizers and sponsors of this event.”
Mayor Chris Goertzen kicked off this year’s Pick up and Walk event and thanked everyone for showing such heartfelt commitment to their community. Following the kick-off, Pastor Donavan Friesen from Southland Church prayed for safety and led in a loud cheer of “garbage” before the masses of volunteers left the T.G. Smith Centre with garbage bags in hand. After three hours of work, volunteers were treated to a full barbeque lunch served to them by other volunteers, including Member of Parliament, Ted Falk.
Because of the increase in volunteers this year, organizer Grace Hiebert, with the help of Joyce Purchase from the City of Steinbach, added a number of routes to the event including Highway 52 west to Mitchell, Highway 12 north to Blumenort and Highway 12 south to Friedensfeld. “We are expecting even more volunteers in 2016, so we, the Pick up and Walk Leadership Team, will be meeting together to add even more routes”, Hiebert said. “As the volunteers increase, so do the costs increase to put on an event of this magnitude so we are incredibly thankful for the significant amount of support we receive from local businesses who showed their support both financially and through the donation of product.” These businesses include: Bakeworld, Canadian Tire, Diamond Construction, Earls Meats, Funks Toyota, GTP Accounting, Harvest Insurance, Horizon Livestock, Lacocina Chips, Lions Club, Penner Trailers, Raintree Financial, Sobeys, Ste. Anne Coop, Steinbach Credit Union, Steinbach Dodge, Steinbach Floor Fashions, Superstore, Three Way Builders, Tim Hortons, and Valeant Pharmeseuticals
The event is held annually on the 1st Saturday in May with next year’s event taking place on Saturday, May 7th, 2016.
