VOLUNTEERS RID CITY OF PARK, TRAIL AND ROAD GARBAGE

WALKER INDUSTRIES HOSTS CITY CLEANUP AS PART OF COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY

Rachel Devoe normally spends her workdays dealing with computer and tech issues most of us can't comprehend, but she's not afraid to roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty if it means doing her part to protect this rock we live on and to keep Niagara Falls a place that everyone can be proud of.

The information technology office assistant with Walker Industries was one of upwards of 100 volunteers from Walker and other community groups

such as Trout Unlimited Niagara and the Niagara Trail Maintenance Association who met at Firemen's Park off Mountain Road on May 10 and then fanned out to locations across the city to clean up a winter's worth of debris from public places such as parks, trails and along roads.

"It feels great," said Devoe as she and her team prepared to head out to George Bukator Park and Oldfield Road to collect garbage. "We like to be present and engaged in our community both through work and through volunteering," she said. "When we have these events, I like to participate and help out."

There's also a social aspect to volunteering in community events when you work at a large company with different locations, said Devoe.

"This is a great opportunity to meet people who work in other departments, so we can get together and meet," she said. For some of us, it's our very first time meeting people we work with."

Tuesday's big cleanup was the third time in four years that Walker hosted its Day of Action on Litter, interrupted only by COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings in 2020. It coincided with the province's annual Day of Action on Litter.

The province said Ontarians generate nearly a tonne of waste per person each year and it estimates almost 10,000 tonnes of plastic debris enter Ontario's lakes and rivers each year with the potential to hurt or kill wildlife and damage ecosystems.

Mike Deprez, vice-president of waste service and business development with

Walker's environmental division, said his company encourages employees to volunteer in the community with two days of paid volunteer service each year.

"We have about 1,200 employees, so if every employee uses their two days, we'll have more than 20,000 hours annually of volunteer work in the community, which is amazing," he said.

"The goal is to become community leaders, for our company and our employees. Our employees become ambassadors."

Walker takes service to the community seriously, Deprez said.

"The community is a pillar of our organization," he said. "Doing good in the community is something we strive for as a company and as employees."

The volunteers collected more than 1,000 pounds of waste, much of which will be diverted to recycling and the rest safely disposed of at the Walker landfill.

Deprez said he hoped that in addition to raising awareness of the importance of a clean environment and not littering, Tuesday's event encourages others to consider community service.

"We need to let people know volunteering is a good thing, volunteering is

something you can do," he said.

The volunteers who also headed out to locations such as Kalar Road near Lundy's Lane, Chippawa Lions Park, Garner Road north of Lundy's Lane, the Haulage Road Trail and Solar Park pathway, Mountain Road, the Millennium Recreational Trail, Stamford Green, the E.E. Mitcheson Park pathway and the Drummond Hill Cemetery and Battlefield Park, were sustained with crisp apples supplied by Small Scale Farms and a barbecue by Tide and Vine Restaurant.

Deprez said Walker has a series of other environmental events planned this year.