More than a hundred volunteers help clean up downtown Winnipeg

Jamie Goulet has been living next to the Winnipeg Fire Fighters Museum at 56 Maples St. in downtown Winnipeg for nearly 12 years — and recently, she noticed a lot more garbage on the streets. 

After seeing no action from the city, Goulet decided to organize a community clean-up on Sunday to help bring pride to her neighbourhood. 

"We live here … there's people camping out and they live here too," said Goulet, a member of Clan Mothers, an organization of Indigenous elders who hold ceremonies for women in need. 

"What prompted us, is that for some reason there's no garbage outlets for anybody to put anything in. There are no needle drop-off things either."

Goulet said the city is "well aware" of the excess garbage littered throughout the neighbourhood, but there's been no action from its part. CBC asked the city to comment, but did not get a response by deadline. 

Clan Mothers did a call for volunteers and by late Sunday afternoon, nearly a hundred people showed up. Goulet said people from the homeless community, who live in nearby tents, also showed up. 

"It empowers all of us when we do what we have to do.… If the city isn't coming to help us clean, then we need to get out and do it ourselves," she said. 

Ron Maier came out because he wanted to help. He said it was his first time participating in a community clean-up. 

"You walk down the street and if it's clean, people tend to keep it clean," he said. 

Jim and Leslie Kirby spent two hours picking up litter in the neighbourhood. They said they wanted to get some fresh air, while doing a good deed.

"It's really nice to see. We weren't sure how many people were going to be out, but there seems to be over a hundred people here," said Jim Kirby. 

"It was going to rain, but it cleared up so it's perfect," said Leslie Kirby.

Goulet said by the end of the day Sunday, nearly 200 people showed up. Now, she wants to hold a community clean-up four times a year. 

"It's the energy of bringing human beings together to clean up Mother Earth," she said.