More than 800 people participated in one way or another in this year’s Pitch In campaign, the annual effort each spring to clean up garbage and other material that’s accumulated in various places over the course of the fall and winter months.
“There was a lot of garbage collected,” reports Maureen Czirfusz, the manage of the Houston and District Chamber of Commerce and perennial sponsor of the event which this year ran from April 25 to April 29.
In all, 843 people participated, she reported.
Participants covered the downtown area, Buck Creek, the duck pond, residential areas and the area between Finning, Canfor and the Canfor rest area.
“When everyone does their part, it makes the task easier to keep our community clean,” said Czirfusz.
While Pitch In is a national campaign, Houston has been cleaning up each spring on its own initiative for decades.
That’s because the local campaign dates back to 1961 and was one of the first projects undertaken by the Houston and District Chamber of Commerce which was formed that year.
Pitch In is now five days long so that those who want to participate can more easily fit it into their weekly schedule, said Czirfusz.