Motorists, be aware that the 46th Annual Alberta Transportation Highway Cleanup Campaign is happening tomorrow, Saturday, May 7 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

That means that volunteers from various youth groups, clubs, and organizations will walk along provincial roadways picking up trash and litter while raising funds for their organizations. 

Careen and Jeff Rohleder are the general leaders of the Cremona 4H Club and they will be taking part in the cleanup this year. Their son has been involved with 4H for the past 7 years and that is how many cleanups the family has been involved with. 

The Annual Highway Cleanup did happen during the pandemic last year with cleanup crews consisting of family members. This year, Rohleder says, “This year we were able to get back to a typical year and we’ve got members all mixed in together with juniors, intermediates, and seniors rather than just families.”  

The Highway Cleanup is also a fundraiser for the participating organizations and Rohleder says that Cremona 4H will receive money for every kilometre they cleanup which will be around 13 kilometres. Their group will consist of 13 teams that will be cleaning up along Highway 580 between Cremona and Carstairs. Rohleder says, “Please honk your horn if you see us and slow down.”  

Mila Prout is once again organizing the cleanup team of the Filipino Canadian Association of Cochrane Alberta (FCACA) and was busy this morning preparing snacks. She says FCACA has a crew of 40 people who will be cleaning the roadside of Hwy. 1A from the town boundaries west to the Stoney Nakoda Nation. They plan to start around 7 a.m. and be finished no later than noon, covering 19 kilometres of roadside. Last year, they cleaned a 17-km stretch.

She says they will be clearly visible in their safety vests and by the bright orange garbage bags they'll be filling. Alberta Transportation will also have some roadside signage along the route.

In 2019, more than 56,000 bags of garbage along 13,700 kilometres of Alberta highways while earning $1.28 million that was distributed to 740 volunteer organizations.

 

Highway Cleanup Members of the Cremona 4H Club collecting garbage in the 2020 cleanup. Photo courtesy of Careen Rohleder