La Broquerie Residents Team Up To Clean Up

The RM of La Broquerie will become noticeably cleaner throughout the next week.

Richard Turenne of the Community Development Corporation in La Broquerie says that is because the community’s annual Team Up to Clean Up initiative is taking place.

Turenne says the efforts started early this Friday and will carry on into Saturday of next week. He notes that the cleanup is not random either and is organized as efficiently as possible.

“Both École Saint-Joachim and Arborgate School will mobilize all of their students over the next couple of days to clean up the village," indicates Turenne. "The classes are separated, the teachers have their quadrants, and everyone is responsible for different streets.”

Turenne stresses that teaming up to clean up is not exclusively for kids either. He encourages residents to register at the local RONA to clean their ditches, mile roads, parks, green spaces, and highways whenever they have time during the next week. He explains that the reason the garbage collection spans between May 3rd and May 11th  is to inspire people to clean up when the weather is nicest and the timing is right for them. 

“We found this format to be really rewarding,” comments Turenne, “and people really appreciate it as well.”

Last year, roughly 1,100 people participated in the community-wide clean and Turenne is expecting similar results this year. If you translate that volunteer effort into value, Turenne figures the event saves his RM over $40,000 in manual labor costs annually.

However, Turenne insists that the clean is more than just garbage collection; it builds up the community.

“Everybody is out there, from the newly establish migrant families to the francophones that have been here since settlement days. Everyone can get excited about cleaning up.”

He continues, “people get around food and they get around music, but now people are getting around of taking care of the planet and that certainly brings a sense of community pride.”

As a grand finale next Saturday, to finish off the week of trash picking, a large Barbeque lunch will be held to celebrate the freshly cleaned community.