On May 11, the Moose Jaw Co-op is inviting everyone to join together for a morning of community cleanup, the first time they have organized and sponsored their own event of this type.
The event is the initiative of Connor Pippus, a Grade 12 student at Peacock Collegiate and an employee of the Ross Park Co-op Gas Bar. Pippus proposed the idea to his manager, and the idea snowballed from there.
“We thought it was a great initiative, on behalf of our staff, and we really like to listen to our employees and this was something that was important to him,” said Michaela Turner, marketing and community relations manager for Moose Jaw Co-op.
Volunteers are asked to meet at the Ross Park Gas Bar, on 9th Ave NE, where cleanup will begin and go from 9 a.m. until noon. Turner said the plan is to move southwards, cleaning up along 9th Ave and over to the Manitoba Expressway — picking up any and all garbage, recyclables, and litter along the way.
“We are a member-owned Co-op, so taking care of the city of Moose Jaw and the community that we live in is very important to us,” said Turner. “We want to be proud of our city and have it clean and looking great for not only the rest of the community, but visitors to our community as well.”
This is the first time the Co-op has hosted their own cleanup event — in the past, they’ve been a sponsor for other events — and they’re hoping for a good enough turnout to make it an annual thing.
“We just hope that we can get a lot of people out so that the more people we can get, the more around town we can get cleaned up,” said Turner. “Connor himself has a group of 30 friends and family members on his own. But we're looking to get, say, at least another 50 people; we'd be happy with that to start out for our first year and then maybe it grows every year, kind of as word spreads.”
Because Pippus is the one who began the whole idea, the proceeds from any recyclable material found during the cleanup will be donated to Peacock’s auditorium upgrade fund, after it has been matched by the Co-op.
Turner is asking that those who plan on coming to RSVP to the Co-op Community Clean Up at [email protected], to get a better idea of the numbers that will be present that day. More information about the event is also on Facebook.
