A community railway clean- up saw volunteers roll up their sleeves and pick up litter along the tracks from Plumstead station to Victoria
Road bridge on Saturday, February 22.
St Mark’s Church, which
started their own Clean Up the Streets campaign last year, helped rally Plumstead residents to make a difference on a bigger scale.
Dylan Marais, assistant pastor at St Mark’s who is responsible for community outreach, partnered with Metrorail special project manager George Kiewiets to make the event happen.
“People like Mr Kiewiets give me hope for our country. He was so keen to jump in and help make a difference. He co-ordinated with Law Enforcement, City waste and local businesses to get involved. Checkers management donated R1 500 towards bags, water and cooldrinks to keep the volunteers on track,” said Pastor Marais.
“We had a really good turnout from community groups
including Lions Club of Bergvliet and I Love my Hood-Plumstead. All in all we had more than 40 people turn out to make a
difference in our community.”
Pastor Marais said St Marks Church wanted to create a community spirit and community involvement in taking responsibility for the environment.
“There is so much that divides people in our country right now. This is a way for us to unite our communities and help each other keep our areas the way we want them to be. It’s
about creating hope and opportunities to serve each other in practical ways,” he said.
St Mark’s hopes to see this become an annual event.
If you would like to be involved you can contact Pastor Marais at dylan@stmarksplumstead.org or George
Kiewiets at GKiewiets@metrorail.co.za