Hundreds of Grade 7 students in Chilliwack helped kickoff an environmental project just outside city limits on Friday.
A total of 270 kids from Vedder Middle School were at Thompson Regional Park for the first day of the Chilliwack River Valley Beautification Project, launched by Streams Foundation Canada on May 10.
There are two components to the six-month project, the first being education, awareness and learning about the area and its habitat.
“Second is small garbage pickups which is normally left by campers in the valley during high camping season,” said Zeeshan Khan, founder of Streams.
The garbage cleanups will be done by a team of about 12-20 volunteers once or twice a month over the next six months.
The project was made possible thanks to a $4,000 grant from the Fraser Valley Regional District. The money will help pay for dump fees, garbage bags and gas for the volunteers. A portion of the money was also used during the May 10 launch event to pay for a hot dog lunch for the kids.
Vedder Middle School called it their ‘Giveback Day.’ An FVRD parks technician taught them about invasive species, they learned Indigenous game sla-hal which uses bones and sticks, and Eddie Gardner spoke with the kids about the local habitat.
At the end of the day, the kids picked up garbage around the park.
“One of our goals was to make sure that we leave our place better than we found it… make sure the park is beautiful as we head out for the day,” said Vedder vice-principal Lisa Ego.
The launch of the beautification project was one of four events that streams had scheduled over three days. The others included a Mother’s Day Party, plus a 25th anniversary celebration for street cleaner Harold Zinke on May 11, and also a free Mother’s Day lunch on May 12.
