Dozens of volunteers armed with trash bags and grabbers participated in the 15th annual FOD Walk. “FOD” stands for “foreign objects and debris.”

The annual event is hosted by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. With temperatures in the low 60s and a nice cool breeze, no one complained about being outside in the fresh air on Earth Day.

Austin Wolfe, of Manson, an employee of McClure Engineering Co., was one volunteer who could be seen stuffing his garbage bag along North Ninth Street.

“We’ve (McClure) done it pretty much every year, Wolfe said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Corey Hayes, of Dayton, an employee of McClure Engineering Co., adds some trash to his bag during the annual Foreign Object and Debris Walk on Thursday.

His bag had a lot of cans and paper in it.

“Nothing cool yet,” he said.

Corey Hayes, of Dayton, also an employee of McClure, was nearby.

“I’ve got mostly pop cans and Gatorade bottles,” Hayes said.

Then in a nearby alley, he spotted something different — an unopened microwavable meal.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Casey Nelson, of Ames, an employee at CJ Bio America, works his way along North Ninth Street Thursday during the annual Foreign Object and Debris Walk.

“There’s a full meal right there,” Hayes said. “That will add some weight.”

Casey Nelson, of Ames, was just one of many CJ Bio America employees who volunteered.

It was the first time he had participated.

“All of us at CJ are all out here doing it as a group effort,” Nelson said.

So far he had found “a lot of cigarette butts, food waste and plastic.”

Tricia and Blaine Messerly, of Fort Dodge, both MidAmerican Energy Co. employees, had their trash grabbers along Central Avenue, near the Webster County Courthouse.

“A lot of cigarette butts,” Blaine Messerly said. “We are going down Central Avenue down to the Square and then through the alleys.”

Brandan Schoenfeld, of Fort Dodge, an employee of Kingsgate Insurance, said it felt good to make a difference.

“I’ve found a lot of broken glass and pop cans,” Schoenfeld said. “I always drive to work and see dirty roads and parking lots. It’s nice to help clean up downtown.”

The FOD Walk ran from 4 to 5 p.m.

The collected trash was placed in a dumpster near City Hall.

The Growth Alliance is also planning on holding another FOD Walk in July ahead of the overnight RAGBRAI stop in Fort Dodge.