Saint Johners urged to come together to clean up the city

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It’s time to take out the trash, Saint John.

Residents of the Port City are being encouraged to come together Saturday and do their part to clean up streets, parks, tent encampments and more as Taking Out The Trash 2024 – a massive initiative aimed at cleaning up the city – will take place throughout Saint John. The volunteer-driven event will begin at 11 a.m. and is expected to end in the mid-afternoon with trash dumpsters placed at various locations.

One of the event’s lead organizers, Derrick May, told Brunswick News while the name focuses on trash, there’s much more to Saturday’s event than simply cleaning the city.

“It’s a community effort headed up by William Dorey and Dan Scott and we’ve come together and decided to do something to show the community that we don’t have to wait on people to take care of our own community,” said May. “It’s about more than just cleaning up garbage. There’s a lot of trash in Saint John and we wanted to get people out in the community. We’ve been through a lot with COVID, we’ve been through a lot with the encampment in Waterloo Village, in particular, there’s a lot of division in the community and our culture… So this is about getting people out, knowing your neighbours, coming together and completing a common goal and then setting a standard and taking pride in your community.”

May, who has garnered a healthy following through his social media account ‘The Soapbox Preacher,’ said he’d prefer Taking Out The Trash not have to become an annual event because he’d like to see a culture change where people don’t need a reason to pick up trash.

Part of that culture change includes helping the city’s homeless instead of wanting them hurt or complaining about their encampments, May said, noting he lives on Waterloo Street. He said he’s made a conscious effort to understand the lives of those who are homeless and encourages others to recognize they are people too.

“People have just been disregarding these people, dehumanizing them. We need to bring dignity back to these people, we need to bring dignity back to our community,” he said.

Jack Daigle agrees with May and will be participating in Saturday’s event, focusing on cleaning up the encampment area on Paradise Row where his sister, Rae Tyler, was  found dead in a tent following a fire on March 25. Rae’s 35-year-old boyfriend Jonathan Calhoun was also found dead.

Daigle said he wanted to participate in the event to get the Paradise Row area not only cleaned but to show some respect for the people who do call it home and to get rid of the debris and ash from the site where his sister died.

“I think it’s more just to leave the spot so people know there were two people who were loved there,” he said. “I drive by the site every day on my way to work and you see the burnt up trees and the debris of, really, my sister’s last moments of her life and it’s kind of harrowing to look at. Cleaning it up might shed some light on the things that have happened at that location.”

Daigle said his father would like to have a memorial garden placed there so people can have better thoughts when they see it and realize his sister was a person, a daughter, a sister.

“She was nine years older than me, she always loved me,” he said. “She was always there for me. We were very close. It was a very loving relationship.”

At Saint John common council’s meeting Monday, multiple councillors thanked May, who was in attendance, and the group for their work and said they’d be taking part.

Coun. Joanna Killen said she would be on the west side, with Coun. David Hickey at the Carleton Community Centre, Coun. Brent Harris in the north end and Coun. Paula Radwan at Goodlife Fitness.

“It’s a great group effort, they’re seeing lots of solidarity in the community with getting this town cleaned up for the spring,” Killen said, saying she looks forward to seeing people come out and “be a part of the solution.”

“If you’re busy this weekend … there’s going to be more opportunities,” Harris said, noting that Earth Day, April 22, is just around the corner.

Hickey also pointed out upcoming cleanups led by PULSE Inc., meeting Monday morning at Pitt Street and Elliot Row, May 4 at 157 Duke St. and on May 11 at the PULSE offices on 251 Wentworth St.

Saturday’s clean up will have trash bins located at the north end Sobeys, on Waterloo Street uptown, the Carleton Community Centre on the west side, and one at Goodlife Fitness on the east side. Team leaders will be on site at each area with garbage bags for volunteers and there will also be sharp containers should people come across needles as they are cleaning up.

-With files from Andrew Bates