Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 26/00) - Yellowknife's annual spring cleanup gets under way on May 14 and will involve at least 800 volunteers this year.

Forty non-profit youth groups applied for the program this year, and all of them were accepted.

"We've asked that each group have at least 20 people to clean up an area and some people will supply 30 or 40 people for their area," says Brian Kelln, the city's program manager.

In total, $30,000 has been allotted for the program, and each group will receive $750 for cleaning their assigned section.

Kelln says one week is usually allotted for the event, which means May 20 is the target date for its completion.

"It will go ahead unless we get some bad weather, like snow or something like that, but I'm 100 per cent sure now that if the weather gets really nice, then maybe we can start on the 8th," says Kelln.

He says it's not too late to volunteer for the cleanup. Anyone who is interested, and involved with one of the chosen cleanup crews, can contact them for further information.