Lee House took matters into their own hands at their community clean-up event last Friday and demonstrated the power of teamwork.

Youth participated in a poster-making contest, with the winning posters distributed door to door and displayed throughout the neighbourhood. The poster informed the neighbours of their intention to clean up the back alley and invited everyone to join.

A former Ranch Ehrlo employee, who now works at Advanced Waste Solutions, was kind enough to lend Lee House one of their large garbage bins for the day.

Michael Torrie, program manager at Lee House, shares why they decided to have this event. 

“We thought this would be a good way to bring the youth together to do something nice, not just for our house, but for everyone in the neighbourhood. Our goal was to promote a culture of teamwork and pride in their work. The aim is for us to continue to build positive relationships within the community,” said Michael.

Lee House exhibited a strong commitment and passion for Ranch Ehrlo's CARE principles with a willingness to build relationships and work together to achieve their full potential.

Once the gloves were on, the hard work commenced. Youth and staff took to the streets to clean up various unsavory trash items.

“There is so much garbage in the ally, it just feels gross to see it all,” stated one participant.

Even though the wind was howling and holding onto the garbage bags became a challenge, that didn’t stop Lee House from getting the job done!

“It feels so much better to not see garbage flying around the yard. I hope we do this again,” exclaimed another participant.

That is exactly the plan for staff at Lee House. It is their hope to have this event each summer- joining forces with their neighbours to clean up the community. After a hard day’s work staff and youth gathered for some refreshments followed by a delicious barbeque.

This event provided an opportunity to see how a small act for a short time can have a great impact. When people get involved in cleaning their neighbourhood and take pride in that work, they are less likely to litter and more likely to keep it clean.