By EMILIE NELSON
Messenger staff writer
Several businesses, community organizations and families came together Tuesday afternoon to help make Fort Dodge a cleaner and brighter place in some of its most high traffic areas.
The sixth annual Foreign Object Debris Walk brought out more than 100 volunteers who teamed up to walk the roadways and ditches along Kenyon Road and U.S. Highway 169 and on the crossroads and Fifth Avenue South corridor areas.
Two cleanup locations meant more volunteers were able to gather to spruce up some of the most highly traveled areas of Fort Dodge.
Eric Anderson and his son Ethan came out to help clean a ditch along Kenyon Road and Business Highway 20 near the AmericInn Lodge and Suites with a group from Trinity Regional Medical Center. It is one of the first areas people coming into Fort Dodge from the south or west see.
"We're out here to help make things look a little better for people who are just driving into town, said Anderson.
Beau Overton and his daughters Emma and Lorelai decided to help with the cleanup efforts on Kenyon Road as a family activity.
"My father-in-law heard about it and got us all signed up," Overton said. "I can't believe the amount of cardboard and Styrofoam just lying around out here."
For some groups, participating in the walk meant leaving the workplace for a couple of hours to help out. Jeff Gochee, with ServPro of Fort Dodge said their entire staff came to make an afternoon of it.
"All of us came to help out," he said.
Even the Fort Dodge Fire Department left their headquarters for the afternoon to pitch in, bringing their radios, trucks and ambulance along and parking them nearby in case they received a call.
"Assistant Chief Ostbloom's whole shift came out today," said Fort Dodge Fire Chief David Leurs. 'They're a civic minded crew; they come out every year for this."
Along 31st Street and First Avenue South near Shoppers Supply, a group of about a dozen volunteers from the Fort Dodge Community Foundation and United Way and LaJames Intentional College had picked up more than a dozen bags of trash from the grass and a nearby field.
"It was a nice day to just come out and do something," said La'James student Desiree Kern.
Rhonda Chambers, who has helped organize the walk for the past six years said this years walk was once again a success.
"We had perfect weather," said Chambers.. "We did things a little differently this year by staying near the right of way instead of the fields, but we picked up 145 bags and loose boxes and debris."
In addition to trash, cans and bottles were collected collected during the FOD Walk will be redeemed and the cash donated to Pride In Community Appearance to help fund future beautification projects throughout the city of Fort Dodge.
Contact Emilie Nelson at (515) 573-2141 or emilie@messengernews.net