The City of Kamloops is calling on residents to roll up their sleeves and Clean the Beach event.

Clean the Beach is a community-driven initiative to keep local riverbanks clean and beautiful, this Sunday.

Volunteers will receive collection materials, route maps, and instructions on safe handling procedures for items like glass, sharps, or hazardous waste. It is recommended that volunteers wear closed-toed shoes and bring high-visibility vests and/or work gloves if they have them.

Social and Community Development Supervisor Ashley Ekelund says the event will run between 11:30am to 1:30pm. “Volunteers will all embark to clean up as much of our public lands as possible along the beaches of Riverside Park, Pioneer Park and the Front Street corridor, as well as North Shore areas around Overlander Park and down Shubert Drive.”

Volunteers returning to Riverside Park at the end of the cleanup ware invited to join a volunteer BBQ to acknowledge and celebrate the collective effort to clean our beaches. The event will also feature educational tables, enriching the community’s understanding of local ecology and the importance of maintaining clean and healthy waterways. Residents, regardless of volunteer participation, are invited to attend this portion of the event.

“It was developed as the result of a council directive from September 2023 for staff to explore the feasibility of an adopt a beach program,” said Ekelund. “And while a program of that scope was not recommended due to safety risk and environmental concerns, a city led effort to facilitate a once annual community beach cleanup was created instead.”

“Se this event happens in mid spring prior to the fresh set flows and water levels rising as a way to clear trash that’s been left behind on our beaches throughout the winter and summer months.

Volunteers returning to Riverside Park at the end of the cleanup ware invited to join a volunteer barbecue. The event will also feature educational tables, enriching the community’s understanding of local ecology and the importance of maintaining clean and healthy waterways. Residents, regardless of volunteer participation, are invited to attend this portion of the event.

Although registration is not required, organizers say it is helpful for planning purposes. Rain or shine, volunteers should plan to arrive at the east end of Riverside Park, near Sandman Centre, by 11:00 am on Sunday, April 13. You can register here.