REGINA — Dozens of volunteers took to the streets of downtown Regina to clean up the area on Wednesday.
The clean-up is part of the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District’s (RDBID) Annual Earth Day Corporate Cleanup Day.
“It’s very important to have a clean community,” said Nelson Mitchell, RDBID manager of operations.
Last year alone, RDBID clean-up team removed roughly 35,000 pounds of litter. The team focuses on the area from Albert Street to Broad Street, down to Saskatchewan Drive and 13th Avenue.
Mitchell noted he hears constant concerns about dirt and safety continue to shape how many view the area.
“It's all the negative you hear about it, right? It's too dirty. We don't want to go down there.”
From his perspective, Mitchell said downtown is the cleanest area in the city.
“We have the cleanest neighbourhood in Regina.”
He added, “I'll go just as far as saying it's the cleanest neighbourhood in Canada. So I guess it motivates us more to keep it clean.”
Community partners:
Several businesses across Regina pitched in for Wednesday’s clean-up, including The Hotel Saskatchewan.
“As a business located in downtown Regina, we feel that it's very important to contribute back to the community,” said The Hotel Saskatchewan's director of marketing and sales, Ashley Pelechytik.
Pelechytik stressed the importance of downtown as it’s a community hub for the city.
“We have the ability to take pride in where we are situated to showcase the incredible city that we're from to the guests that travel outside.”
About 35 volunteers split into teams during the cleanup, each focusing on a different task.
Pelechytik team helped cover tags and remove graffiti.
“[This] allows the true art to be showcased more finely, rather than being riddled with individuals who have destroyed the art on the murals in the downtown area.”
Mitchell said this event is their biggest turnout so far since its inception.
“It’s a great thing to see we are growing.”
Mitchell is hopeful this event can continue around Earth Day for the next few decades.
“It would be nice, 25 years, this is still going, and someone's running it, and there's 200 people down here for the afternoon, right, and make it a huge community kind of celebration for clean up.”
