Participating in a clean-up event Friday in downtown Windsor benefited staff of Continuing Education as much as the community, said executive director Jennie Atkins.

A crew of about a dozen staff collected litter from around Windsor Hall as part of Pitch-In Canada, a national environmental charity dedicated to improving communities through preservation and sustainable growth. Sponsored by Tim Hortons, the week-long event coincides with Earth Day and set the tone for the team’s daily educational earth trivia, to reinforce the value of their volunteering.

“This gave our team the opportunity to directly contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of our surrounding environment and help improve our downtown community,” Atkins said. “Since Continuing Education is developing programming aimed at supporting the needs and interests of the larger community, this outreach event was a good fit.”

She said the group learned a bit about volunteer service — and the nature of street litter.

“I believe most of us were astonished by the amount of cigarette butts that littered the area,” said Atkins. “Thousands of them scattered across the pavement, embedded in sidewalk cracks and landscaping mulch.”

The annual pitch-in campaign is intended to encourage civic pride and develop working relationships to help further sustainability measures. Other downtown businesses and area partners also participated, helping to build the UWindsor presence among neighbours and stakeholders.