It’s that time of year again. The time when people are looking around their houses and yards, wondering how they’ve managed to accumulate so much stuff they don’t need and addressing how to remedy that.
It’s spring cleaning time.
The Juan de Fuca branch of the Navy League of Canada and the Beacon Hill Sea Cadets have come up with a way to help.
On April 11 and 12 volunteers will be at the Navy League hall, 948 Dunford Rd. in Langford, collecting donations of unwanted metal to be recycled.
Leoni Gingras, vice-president of the JDF branch, says it’s an excellent opportunity to both give back to the community – one of their primary goals – and increase their ability to offer programs, activities and services to youth.
“We’re quite unique in that it’s not that expensive to be a part of what we do,” she says.
It’s only $60 per child for the year to join the cadets. The organization facilitates members’ involvement in sports or other fitness and wellness activities, supplies instruments for band programs, and offers various other learning opportunities to help develop cadets into responsible, healthy members of society. Members can also attend summer camps that are not only free, but they actually get paid to be there learning life skills they might not otherwise have the chance to learn.
“It’s a lot more than just kids out on boats,” Gingras says, laughing.
This weekend’s scrap metal collection fundraiser, the first of its kind for the group, came about because one of the cadet corps officers recently got a job at a metal recycler. That officer brought it forward as a possible opportunity to both raise funds and teach the kids another aspect of social responsibility. Not surprisingly, the organization loved it, Gingras says.
During the collection days they will accept most types of scrap metal – the exception being containers that have previously contained fuels, as those can’t be recycled. Volunteers will be on hand at the hall to help unload the material as of 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
For more information about the fundraiser, contact Gingras at lgingras@shaw.ca. If you’d like to know more about what the Navy League does or stands for, check out navyleague.ca.
mdavies@goldstreamgazette.com