This year’s Co-Community Cleanup was a big hit in Cranbrook and Kimberley, with over 140 people descending on public land and green spaces on Saturday, April 20.

The event came at the tail end of the city-led Kimberley Pitch-In Week and Cranbrook Spring Spruce Up. Passersby would likely have noticed school groups, businesses, and individuals out during the week and weekend doing their part to clean up our streets and neighbourhoods.

Community spirit was evident 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.

Organizers in Kimberley were thrilled that all 16 pre-decided routes, not including 10 other areas that had been cleaned during Pitch-In Week, were all cleaned in the three-hour timeframe!

Andrea Chapman of Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook notes that it was apparent how much of a difference it made when traveling around the following day stating, “Each area was noticeably tidy — now keep it clean everyone!” She also shared some highlights including:

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!

This was the second year the Co-Community Cleanup was organized in Cranbrook. “It’s so great to see this event grow and see new faces for our second year!” shared Ali Hadikin, Communications Coordinator for Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook. “We’re all about building community, in terms of relationships and land connection, and what better way to do that than taking care of our home.”

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 Phoenix  Community Culture, and Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook would like to thank the selfless involvement of those who attended as well as the following organizations that donated either services, prizes, or equipment to make the event possible (in no particular order): Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, Secure Energy, GFL, Bavarian Home Hardware, Grubstake Pizza, Purcell Golf, Leslie Long Rescue, Morgan Turner Photography, Western Financial Place, and Dominos Pizza.

“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!”

Lead image: Volunteers pitch in during the Co-Community Cleanup. Morgan Turner Photography

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