Volunteers remove over 6,000 pounds of debris from Vedder Bridge homeless encampment

CHILLIWACK — Community-minded volunteers and stewards concerned with the environment hauled away over 6,000 pounds of garbage and other belongings from a homeless encampment along Sweltzer Creek Crescent this past Sunday, January 15.

At least a dozen individuals, including a resident from Vancouver, gathered to collect unsightly debris from an active homeless encampment just steps away from Sidekick Brewing near the Vedder Bridge.

Organizers of the informal cleanup event pledged to go into the camp in a non-confrontational manner. They stayed true to their promise as the two encampment residents there, a male and a female, allowed volunteers equipped with long arm grippers, garbage bags, and gloves to spend several hours there without incident.

Approximately eight to nine truckloads of garbage were removed, according to Ross Aikenhead, a volunteer with the Chilliwack/Vedder River Cleanup Society, although he participated in the event independent of the society.