The Al Ritchie Community Association hosted a community cleanup on Saturday and provided clothing donations as part of a new initiative. As a yearly ritual in August, volunteers conducted greenspace cleanup, along with taking in items that could go into large red bins in their parking lot. A woodchipper was also available on-site. “We’re super proud of the community cleanup, we’re super proud of the fact that we’re handing out clothes,” said Denis Simard, executive director of the Al Ritchie Community Association. “But we know there’s thousands upon thousands of people in the City of Regina that are struggling right now and that may not have heard of us today.” Last year, the association took in around 10,000 pounds of items that were placed in the red bins. Simard expects that number to be similar in 2026. This year, lots of clothes were available upstairs in the centre. “We’ve got winter gear, summer gear, women’s, men’s, children, and babies. We kind of have it all,” Simard said. “Right now, the winter gear is the one that a lot of our newcomer families are sort of aspiring for today. A lot of them are showing up in their first year in Canada, sort of saying, ”Hey, I got me and my three kids, everybody’s telling us that this winter is going to be hard, do you have gear for us?” There was a total of 12 volunteers for this year’s event, and the association is looking for more going forward.
