City of Red Deer is looking at the public for help tidying up the Red Deer River.

The 2017 Red Deer River Cleanup takes place this Sunday and is part of the Green Deer initiative, an annual city-wide spring cleaning program.

Suzanne Jubb, Green Deer Coordinator with the City, said the more people the better.

“The last couple of years we’ve been closer to 100, so that’s a lot of people and we can get the job done even faster when there’s that many people. It’s quite nice to get a good crowd.”

She adds with summer just weeks away, there’s no better time to get started.

“We have a lot of tourists that come to our city and rant and rave about our trails so we do want to keep our city clean.”

“I know a lot of the garbage is harmful to, not only the environment, but to the animals. Just making sure we don’t have any debris to make it safe for people who use our trails and our community."

The Cleanup runs from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. beginning at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre. Participants are encouraged to bring gloves and appropriate footwear.

A free BBQ, where prizes will be handed out, will follow the event.