A few eye-sores in the form of garbage have disappeared from downtown Windsor thanks to the success of Operation Street Clean.
Residents raised serious concerns over old-furniture, dirty-needles, and trash scattered through their neighbourhoods, according to the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative Sarah Cipkar.
She says volunteers came together to get rid of the clutter — they began scouring the city's core around 10am, stopping well into the afternoon.
A large pile of garbage filled the centre of a city lot behind the Downtown Mission on Pelissure St. near Wyandotte St. W.; the city arrived promptly at 1:30pm to assure it wouldn't sit there for long. Cipkar says everything conceivable made its way into the heap, from dirty needles, to old toys.
Items collected from neighbourhoods throughout the city's core during Operation Clean Up in downtown Windsor on Saturday October 21, 2017. (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)
"At least 10 mattresses, I'd say like another five couches, some beds, there's a race-car bed over there, there's a suitcase, just a little bit of everything," she says. "This stuff was just in the alleys and littering our neighbourhoods."
They managed to cover a lot of ground, according to Cipkar.
"From Bruce Ave. to just past the east-side of Ouellette Ave., and from Park St. all the way up to about Erie St.," says Cipkar.
She says 40 people signed in to help out, but there is probably more than that number in attendance. People from outside the affected neighbourhoods pitched in too.
"We're almost in tears from how much was collected, and all the volunteers just being in good spirits about it," she says. "Sometimes people get really frustrated about the downtown, but I think this shows that there are a lot of people in this city who care, both residents of the downtown and those outside."
Cipkar says Ward 3 Councillor Rino Bortolin arranged for the garbage trucks, A1 Landscaping and Dinunzio Security provided some muscle and some pick-up trucks to bring items to the lot for the city crews to pick up.
Downtown Pizza Company provided lunch for everyone in attendance.
Operation Street Clean is a go. @dwccwindsor gathered everything from needles to race-car beds from downtown Windsor streets & alleys. #cklw pic.twitter.com/xkb8fdOExW
— Gord Bacon (@baconAM800) October 21, 2017