The 13th Annual “Amazing Eau Claire Clean Up” is scheduled for next Saturday (April 24) from 9 a.m. to noon.
The event is sponsored by the Eau Claire Parks, Recreation & Forestry department and Downtown Eau Claire Inc. It is also supported by downtown Eau Claire businesses and environmental grant funding from Xcel Energy.
Volunteers organized by the city department will pick up litter in community parks, neighborhood playgrounds, picnic areas, recreational trails and other city locations including the downtown area. Julie Booth, a city Recreation Program Supervisor, said she expected more than 400 volunteers to participate this year.
“Participation in an environmental initiative such as the ‘Amazing Eau Claire Clean-up’ plays a critical and a key role to the quality of life within our community,” Booth said in an email.
Volunteers for the event registered as individuals or from groups or businesses. T-shirts, snacks, garbage bags and local retail discounts are provided to participants. Volunteer registration for this event has closed.
Travis Albrecht, the lead pastor at Valleybrook Church, has participated in past clean-up efforts as a volunteer with church members. He expressed enthusiasm for the project in a comment to the city.
“We had so much fun last year and am looking forward to doing this again. . . we’d love to support this awesome downtown project again,” he wrote.
The clean-up is one of more than a half dozen events throughout the year for which the Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department recruits volunteer help. For a list of the other volunteer opportunities, click here.
Note: This story was reported by Zaria Whitacre.