Akwesasne's Annual Roadside Cleanup Day

The Annual Roadside Cleanup took place once again, with two sign-up stations on both sides of Akwesasne. It was a good feeling to see the community out and taking care of Mother Earth, by cleaning up all the trash that was left behind after the winter thaw. A lot of youth were involved with cleaning up the roads and ditches. There were several sports teams involved in cleaning up, in hopes of winning the grand prize and other prizes raffled off at the end.

The two separate sign up stations were located at the Generations Park in Hogansburg and in Kawehnoke at the CIA 3 Building. The Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment (ATFE) organizes the Annual Roadside Cleanup, usually at the end of April. It turned out to be a beautiful day to get outside and clean. The community extended a helping hand by donating food to the cookouts that were held at each location at noon. It was a nice thank you to all the participants who worked hard cleaning up all morning to be able to sit down, relax and eat some good cooked food.

After everyone was done eating, there were a lot of prizes to be won by anyone who participated in the cleanup. So, a lot a children and adults left with smiles on their faces and prizes in their hand. Some lucky children even found money while cleaning up the roadsides. Anyone who drove along Akwesasne on Saturday, probably saw all the garbage bags on the sides of the roads. Those bags were all picked up, and which ever group or individual had the most bags won the grand prize of $250.00. There were teams from Akwesasne who pitched in a helping hand like the Soaring Eagles Volleyball Club, Patters and Little Hawks broomball, and Akwesasne Storm to name a few. Every group had a different number to write on each of their garbage bags, so the garbage bags could be tallied up at the end. The teams that got the top three prizes were the Akwesasne Freedom School with 200 bags, Akwesasne Soaring Eagles Volleyball Club with 148 bags and Twinleaf with 98 bags.

One can only hope that people can put more of an effort into not littering in the first place, but until that time comes, you will have the awesome people of Akwesasne picking up the trash that others leave behind. So, good work to everyone involved, Akwesasne appreciates it.