Keep the roads safe so they can keep the roads clear. The province is asking all motorists use caution when out driving on the highways today. There will be many young citizens doing their parts for a better world.
Thousands of volunteers across the province will be out today making the roads look a whole lot cleaner than the litterbugs left them. The first Saturday of May is the province's annual Highway Cleanup, a program that instils environmental pride while providing funding to community groups.
Trent Bancarz, the public affairs officer for Alberta Transportation, said that it's a widespread community service that has a larger message.
"Hopefully it teaches young folks some environmental stewardship. We figure that if a young person spends a day in a ditch picking garbage up, maybe when they get older they think twice about tossing something out of their vehicle."
Some of the local groups that will be benefiting from their work today include the Namao 4H Trailbusters, the Friends of 570 Air Cadets, the 1st Morinville Pathfinders, and the St. Albert Junior Forest Wardens. Locally, they will be out on various sections of Highways 2, 28, 28A, 37 and 642.
Service clubs and other not-for-profit groups are welcome to participate in the Highway Cleanup program. For more information or to register for the next scheduled cleanup to be held on May 7, 2011, contact Moh Ashraf at 780-415-1030 or visit www.transportation.alberta.ca.
Friends makes SHAVA's day
The St. Albert Newcomers Club recently gave $1,000 to the Sturgeon Hospital Auxiliary Volunteer Association (SHAVA) in support of programming, operations and equipment at the facility. Roy Thorpe, treasurer for the non-profit organization, said that SHAVA was thrilled to receive the funding.
"As you know nowadays [hospital budgets] are being slashed pretty good so anything we can raise for them goes [far]."
The Newcomers Club facilitates friendships for women who have just moved to St. Albert. It participates in various fundraising projects and selects a local charity of choice to benefit from those efforts.
For more information about that club, visit www.stalbertnewcomersclub.com. To learn more about SHAVA, please call 780-418-7375.
