On July 20, 2019, the Lower Mainland Green Team pulled the invasive Policeman’s Helmet from Deer Lake Park in Burnaby.
This community engagement activity was made possible through partnership with City of Burnaby. Working together is a win for community and biodiversity!
A special thank you to our very own Greater Victoria Green Team Program Manager for co-running this activity. A thank you also goes out to our leaders: Brian, Doug and Victor.
Thank you to all the community members who did such great work removing large swaths of invasive Policeman’s Helmet: Anwarali, Adam, Akber, Al, Alam, Alan, Alvina, Anisha, Anne, Belva, Brian G., Brian J., Dana, Dianne, Doug, Elysha, Froilan Jr, Heather, Homer, Jabeen, Jan, Jeremy, Jun Woo, Karl redrick, Kat, Katarina, Keith, Kim, Layla, Mae, Marvin, Melanie, Michael, Nasira, Romeo, Sadia, Samantha, Sameena, Samuel, Sarah B, Sarah F., Shaheen, Shazeen, Susana, Tatjana, Tiffany, Victor, Yasmin, Max and Olivia
HIGHLIGHTS
- 50 community members contributed 140 hours
- 6 cubic metres of invasive Policeman’s Helmet was removed (some over 6 feet tall!)
- 28 volunteers had never been to Deer Lake Park before
- 30 volunteers had never removed invasive Policeman’s Helmet before
- 3 people rode their bicycles, 1 took transit, 4 walked and there were 3 carpool drivers
- A group from the Ismaili Centre in Burnaby participated
- A group from the Church of Christ participated
- Olivia helped cool volunteers down with a spray of water
- We ate cookies in the shape of invasive Policeman’s Helmet leaves!
- Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA Anne Kang joined us!
- A local business, Shien Japanese Calligraphy, provided steel straws (and a cloth bag and straw cleaner!) to participants. Thank you!
- We also provided participants with West Coast Seeds
CLICK HERE FOR OVER 200+ DEER LAKE JULY 20, 2019 PHOTOS
What participants said:
Well organized event on a bright, sunny day. Event was well attended and volunteers were enthusiastic and willing to work. A good opportunity to meet many people of different backgrounds. Great cookies! I believe the main impact is exposing an expanding number of people to the experience of helping with the management of local parks. This helps to develop a sense of community ownership of our parks. It also helps significantly in spreading knowledge of the impact of invasives on local environments. – Victor
Huge turnout and awesome spirit from all. Great event as usual. The kids loved volunteering, which is fantastic. They want to do it again. – Tiffany
I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment – Alvina
The impact of participating was to increase environmental awareness to the public. Also to preserve the natural ecosystems – Jun
BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS
VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION
