The annual Pick Up and Walk event is back this weekend, inviting residents from across Steinbach and surrounding areas to come together in a city-wide effort to keep the community clean.
Martin Gunter from Southland Church has been a long-time organizer and passionate supporter of the initiative. He’s encouraging everyone to take part in the cleanup this Saturday morning.
“It would be awesome for you guys to come down this Saturday at 8:30. Many of the churches can sign up online or even just show up. And at 8:30 we can show up, get a t-shirt, get ready, 9:00 we head out, we clean up the city and come back for a free lunch afterwards.”
The event kicks off at the TG Smith Arena, where volunteers will gather before heading out to various areas of the city. Before long, Steinbach will be filled with the sight of yellow-shirted teams heading out to collect garbage.
“Oh, I love that,” says Gunter. “It's just a representation that people care for their community but also love that it's the physical hands and feet of Jesus doing something in a community and giving back because we care about our community a lot.”
While picking up trash may not be the most glamorous way to spend a Saturday, the impact is significant.
“It helps the city a lot. Like the city has said, it's like eight full-time positions over a couple of months that they don't have to do now. And I think that's another way for us to give back to the city.”
Though Southland Church plays a large role in this event, Gunter notes it’s a true community collaboration.
“I think there's over 22 churches who come together and it's so cool to rub shoulders with people and even people we haven’t seen in a while. It actually feels like a big family gathering. And one of the good ones, not one of the hard ones, that you come to and just have fun.”
In addition to beautifying the city, Gunter points out that the cleanup effort brings other benefits.
“Every year there is literally tons of garbage we're getting removed and when you look back and stuff too, you see wow, there's even some even dangerous stuff in the ditches that get removed. But otherwise, kids can go play with and all those now are gone. So yes, it's clean, but I think it makes our city a lot safer as well and gives also an attitude of let's keep our city clean because you've done all this work too.”
For Gunter and many others, the event is about more than just tidying up.
“We want to do it again to show up as an actionable step that we believe, as Christians, we are called to take care of our planet, take care of our communities and stuff, and we want to show a tangible way we care about you. We care about the city, we love this city. We love this community and this is one way we can give back and it's good, and it’s good to do that.”
With hundreds of participants expected, he’s reminding drivers to be cautious while travelling around the city.
“There are families actually coming here with young kids too,” he says. “There are young adults, there’s teenagers doing their part. So please just slow down and be careful when you see them out there.”
Finally, Gunter encourages everyone planning to attend to come prepared for spring conditions.
“We also recommend to people to put on some rubber boots because it can be a little bit wet. So, bring your rubber boots and stuff too. The cost for coming to this is free, it's just taking a little bit of time.”
Join Gunter and the community at 8:30 a.m. at TG Smith Arena on May 3!
With files from Adi Loewen