Peru Rescue Station
Peru Rescue Station volunteers their time and boats to the Illinois Valley River Sweep
Volunteers sweep the river
Monday, September 20, 2010
By Amy Flanery
A scheduling conflict was the likely cause for a decreased number of volunteers for this year’s Illinois River Sweep, sponsored by Friends of the Illinois River.
United Way of Illinois Valley had its Labor of Love event on Saturday, drawing potential volunteers to help winterize and repair homes rather than clean up the river banks.
The event usually brings 75-90 volunteers, but around 60 people did show up on the cloudy morning to collect trash in an effort to keep the river shores clean. And they found less trash than usual. According to Friends of the Illinois River president Dave Lourie, that didn’t necessarily mean there was less trash. It just meant it wasn't in the same place it usually is.
“It’s definitely down,” Lourie said, “which is a good thing, but again, we’re wondering where the debris went to.”
Lourie and Friends of the Illinois River treasurer Amanda Glover organized the Peru event, which was one of many across the state on Saturday. The state-wide organization happens to be based in Peru.
Glover guessed the debris had ended up farther from the river because of flooding, putting it in the weeds behind the parking area at the registration site and in other parts of the floodplain. They did not plan to send people back into the overgrown weeds to find out, though.
Fewer items did not mean the volunteers had nothing to do, however.
“We’re definitely going to come very close to filling the dumpster,” Glover said. It just wouldn’t be heaping this year.
Volunteers from Peru Rescue Station manned boats borrowed from the organization to transport community members to various drop-off locations along the river, where they filled trash bags with debris to bring back to the group’s home base for the day. “They help us out greatly,” Glover said of Peru Rescue Station volunteers. “Definitely without them we couldn't do it because we don't have boats.”
Lourie said Saturday's event in Peru covered about 12 miles of the Illinois River.
Volunteers began the cleanup at 8 a.m. and had planned to continue until noon, but were forced to stop early because of lightning that began around 10:30 a.m.
“Unfortunately, it’s just not safe,” Glover said.
Local companies donated lunch for the volunteers, who also received free T-shirts, coffee and doughnuts upon arrival.