You're invited to hit the streets of Portage la Prairie this evening, to help clean up the community. Today's the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation Team Up to Clean Up initiative. The event was originally slated for May, but poor weather led to the initiative being postponed. While it's been two months since the event was set to take place, PCRC Community Engagement Coordinator Stefanie McKim says there's a reason they decided to hold off until this week.

Stefanie McKim

"This is in preparation for our Manitoba Communities In Bloom Judges' Tour, which is Tuesday, August 2nd. We're really looking forward to it. The city is looking great, but if we can just have one final push to clean up before the long weekend, then we'll be totally prepared for the judges to come."

Their city-wide cleaning is set to take place between 6 and 8 o'clock tonight. McKim says while they'll have the booths set up for two hours, you don't need to spend the full time cleaning. She notes even if everyone just cleaned up around their house, it would make a big difference in making Portage more beautiful.

Despite holding off on the event for about two months, McKim says it seems many Portagers are chomping at the bit to get out and do some cleaning. She says community support for the initiative has been great, and hopes to see that continue with tonight's event.

"We've had a pile of community support up to this point, beginning with the city. The city did a huge clean up right before Beautification Days. All throughout Beautification Days in May we had people coming in and asking for supplies to do their own clean up. They're just taking the initiative and we're seeing a lot of civic pride."

She says even if you're not able to come out for tonight's community clean, you can stop by the PCRC office at any time and pick up supplies to do your own clean up. PCRC will be set up at three locations handing out supplies tonight, including Fort la Reine School, Prosvita Park, and Red River College.