{"id":34394,"date":"2024-03-28T16:08:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T20:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34394"},"modified":"2024-04-04T17:41:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T21:41:36","slug":"clean-up-day-will-help-beautify-aurora-and-bring-community-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/clean-up-day-will-help-beautify-aurora-and-bring-community-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean-Up Day will help beautify Aurora and bring community together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spring is in full swing, and if you\u2019re starting to turn your mind to a bit of seasonal cleaning, think big as Aurora gears up for the first of its twice-annual Community Clean-Up Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spring Community Clean-Up Day will take place Saturday, April 20, with Town Park as its nerve-centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning at 8 a.m., registered participants can pick-up their cleaning kits at the Downtown Aurora greenspace and fan out to one of several \u201ctarget\u201d locations throughout the community to pick up what shouldn\u2019t be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea Lee-Han, who has been participating in the Community Clean Up Days for the last three years, will once again be heading out on April 20 to beautify Aurora, not just with her own family, but with a number of residents she cares for at Kingsway Place Retirement Community on Murray Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice that we can all be together on this one day to do this one task, but it is not just one day \u2013 every day we need to think about the earth, what we do, and making sure that we do have something left for the next generation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she first began participating in days like these, she says she noticed a lot of high school kids were having trouble completing their community service hours and thought this was a great opportunity to get that done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said to my kids, \u2018Come on out, it\u2019s a nice day, we\u2019re going to pick up garbage,\u2019 and they were like, \u2018Oh, okay,\u2019\u201d she says, affecting a groan and a chuckle. \u201cIt snowballed from there and I wanted to bring that to Kingsway. We didn\u2019t start at Kingsway in that first year, I thought, let\u2019s get them conditioned first to be able to pick something up from the floor from a lower level and be safe to navigate when they are outside in the community. Because we had COVID at the time everyone had to be masked, everyone had to be social-distanced, and this was an opportunity to do something outside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things I kind of preach is we live in a community and we have to take care of our community. You don\u2019t want to live in garbage, you want to make sure that you\u2019re home. This is your home and when your home is clean you feel better about it and you also feel you\u2019re helping your neighbours, too,\u201d adds Lee-Han, noting that the area Kingsway and its residents and volunteers take on include the greenspaces around their residence and nearby schools. \u201cWe had high school students who came in with us, for the older ones I was able to leave them in certain areas, the Guides were there teaching them, too, so they could make sure they were understanding we are stewards of this earth and we need to take care of it if we want to have a future. That\u2019s my takeaway and I hope I instil that with the residents, too. If you take pride in your surroundings, hopefully that will transfer to whatever is inside the building will also be outside the building, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target locations this month\u2019s Clean-Up Day include John West Way, Alex Brodie Drive, Vandorf Sideroad, River Ridge Boulevard, Earl Stewart Drive, Issacson Court, Henderson Drive between Yonge Street and Watts Meadow, Stone Road, First Commerce Drive, Desjardins Way, William Graham Drive, Old Bloomington Road, St. John\u2019s Sideroad, Industrial Parkway, Bayview Avenue, Yonge Street, Wellington Street, and all stormwater management ponds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur community takes pride in maintaining a clean and beautiful environment,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas in a statement. \u201cThe annual spring cleanup is an excellent opportunity for residents to actively contribute to preserving the natural beauty of Aurora and fostering a sense of community pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To participate, individuals or groups can register at aurora.ca\/Cleanup<\/a>. Registration must be completed by Friday, April 19. Cleanup kits will be available for pickup at Town Park on the day of the event, while supplies last. Volunteers will have the option to choose their own cleanup location or select from a list of target areas provided on the Town’s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students participating in the cleanup will receive volunteer hours for their contribution to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the Spring Community Cleanup or to register, please visit\u00a0aurora.ca\/Cleanup<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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