Piapot First Nation, community volunteers help out in North Central clean up

A community cleanup organized by Piapot First Nation and hosted by Creeland Mini Mart and Miyo Askiy help clean up a neighbourhood in Regina's north central. (CTV News/Damian Smith)

A community cleanup organized by Piapot First Nation and hosted by Creeland Mini Mart and Miyo Askiy saw dozens of volunteers gathering to tidy open lots, sidewalks and back alleyways.

“I could see the big difference of the cleanup that everybody had started already today,” Piapot First Nation Chief Mark Fox said.

“You can see the difference now, I come through North Central every day. Our gas station is here and our businesses, and I couldn’t believe the amount of garbage that was lying in the streets and in the back alleys.”

Volunteers picked up litter from Angus Street to Robinson Street, and from 4th to 7th Avenue.

“There’s mattresses, there’s clothes, there’s garbage, there’s people’s personal ID’s that we picked up and threw out,” Fox explained. “I haven’t come across any drug paraphernalia yet, which was good.”

Volunteers also stepped in to remove large obstacles like couches, mattresses and chairs.

“We have people who are marginalized and maybe they’re on a fixed income, they don’t have the extra money to pay the dump fees,” said Alvira Roulette, the finance and administrative coordinator with Piapot First Nation.

“This way, at least, we can get rid of that stuff for them.”

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The cleanup ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, with around 50 people from 11 community groups volunteering.

One of those pitching in was Pat Sparvier, who drives through the area almost every day.

“I feel like we should be helping the community and clean up the street,” she said. “We’ve got a beautiful city here and beautiful people.”

Sparvier says that it’s her first time volunteering in litter maintenance, and noted that the clean streets are a nice sight to see.

“It’s really therapeutic,” she said.

Roulette says the community cleanup was inspired by the North Central Neighbourhood Revitalization Plan, which was established by the City of Regina in 2025.

“That’s kind of the reason behind this,” she said. “Cree Land is a big business here in North Central. As such, we should be leaders in getting things cleaned up for our community.”