Volunteers cleaning up streets of Happy Valley-Goose Bay - Action News
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Volunteers cleaning up streets of Happy Valley-Goose Bay

Originally started by four people, the cleanup has grown to include 70 businesses and $10,000 in prizes.

Organizer Jennie Ring-Michelin says the number of people coming together has already helped community pride

A girl in a helmet makes a duck face at the camera and a peace sign while a woman looks at the camera. Behind them is an ATV and a trailer filled with trash bags.
Nine-year-old Jolie Linstead and her grandmother Caroline Davis submitted their photograph to the community cleanup initiative in order to be in the prize draw. Davis said her granddaughter found out about the prizes only after she finished cleaning up. (Submitted by Caroline Davis)

A springtime trash cleanup in Happy Valley-Goose Bay has seen the involvement of more than 70 local businessesthis year.

Whilewalking through the trails in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, nine-year-oldJolie Linsteadpicked up trash and piled it in an ATV trailer.

"It's kind of disgusting when I see all kinds of garbage on the ground and stuff and I just wanted to clean it up so we could have more space," said Jolie.

Jolie is one of the dozens of people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay taking part in a weekend community cleanup. The initiative was started by four business owners who were concerned by the amount oftrash in the town.

A woman in a white garbage bag with 'ice' on the front is shown picking up trash and smiling at the camera.
Jennie Ring-Michelin is one of four business people who decided to organize the community cleanup to take action in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. She was dressed up like an ice bag for her team, the Ice Bags. (Heidi Atter/CBC)

"Nobody could even probably guess that it would grow as big as it has," said organizer Jennie Ring-Michelin, manager and operator of Jungle Jim'srestaurant and Mariner's Galley.

In a week and a half, more than 70 businesses have contributed cleaning suppliesand over $10,000 worth of prizes,including Air Borealis tickets, a barbecue set and a gardening set. The amount of trash this year was too much for the town to handle alone, Ring-Michelin said.

"I think that if they were left to do this initiative on their own that they would have failed miserably. I don't think that any one entity could have taken this on," Ring-Michelin said.

"We want it more as a positive aspect and if everybody chips in like they have, by Sundaythis town will be cleaned up."

A person in a masquerade mask picks up trash.
One of the Mariner's Galley workers was picking up trash while dressed up as a 'Mariner's Misfit.' (Heidi Atter/CBC)

The Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay said it does not have analytical data on litter so it's unable to say whether there is more this year.

On April 27, the town issued a statement warning people of "garbage and potential hazardous waste" on the town's bike trails. The town asked people to "be careful" on the trails and report garbage or hazardous materials to the town office.

The town has recently been in the spotlight due to what it called a "public safety" situation. The town recently removed several benches in public areas, sayingthere has been an increase in illegal activity and loitering.

Ring-Michelin said the cleanup initiative has already started to improvecommunity pride.

A hand is shown picking up a Tim Hortons cup from the ground.
Ring-Michelin picks up trash in the back parking lot of a business in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. (Heidi Atter/CBC)

"I've seen it with people. They're reaching out today," she said. "They're posting their pictures and you can see like, 'Look what we did. We're excited,' and everybody's online, the buzz is really good."

Ring-Michelin said they joined Tim Hortons"Pitch-In" initiative, which providedall the trash bags needed. People are encouraged to participate by cleaning up an area, then sending a photograph to the HVGB Community Cleanup 2023Facebook page to be entered in the prize draw.


Jolie's grandmother Caroline Davis said they clean up their area every spring, and the recycling money goes to Linstead's education fund. Davis said Jolie didn't know there were prizes included until after she submitted her photograph.

"I wanted to show Jolie there's no good for us just to complain about things. We need to get out and take action and we wanted to make it fun," Davis said. "I'd like to see more kids getting out there and doing that and showing a lot of respect for their environment."

Jolie said people should keep the town clean.

"If we keep throwing garbage on the ground and not recycling, then we're dirtying up our earth and then we can't have another one after."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador