The cleanup of the open fields north of Target and Walmart, on either side of Second Avenue North, is organized every spring by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. The spot is chosen because of the high traffic and visibility of the area, according to Lydia Schuur, communications specialist for the Growth Alliance.

“People notice, once the snow melts, the amount of debris that has been hidden,” she said. “Usually this seems to be one of the most noticeable areas in town, because of how open it is, I think.”

Former Webster County Supervisor Keith Dencklau also helps with organizing the cleanup, Schuur said. He brings his pickup truck with a trailer to haul away the dozens of bags of trash collected, and MidAmerican Energy Co. supplies gloves and garbage bags for the volunteers.

Several area banks and businesses signed up to have teams join the cleanup, as well as community organizations like the YWCA of Fort Dodge, and the Fort Dodge Police Department. There were also plenty of unaffiliated individuals who signed up to help, Schuur said.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Former Webster County Supervisor Keith Dencklau tosses a bag of trash into a trailer hooked up to his truck on Tuesday afternoon. Dencklau helped other volunteers organized by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance to clean up the fields north of Target and Walmart in Fort Dodge.

“I think it’s always so cool every time,” she said of the number of volunteers who show up each year. “It’s an awesome experience because it shows the number of people who pay attention and care.”

Katie Rodamaker, 16, came out to help with the cleanup after school let out. The Fort Dodge Senior High junior is a member of the FDSH Green Team and heard about the cleanup efforts, so she wanted to pitch in.

“I drive on this road every day to get to school and I see the trash along the fence,” she said. “I think it’s very important to clean up the area.”

Rodamaker said she thinks open spaces with cluttered trash like the fields she walked on Tuesday help perpetuate stereotypes about Fort Dodge.

“Like it’s kind of falling apart,” she said. “Like when you drive by and see a field with all the garbage laying around, you’re like ‘Oh, that’s very sad.'”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Community volunteers came together on Tuesday afternoon to help clean up trash and debris that had collected in the fields north of Target and Walmart over the winter.

Instead of just driving by and letting it become someone else’s problem, Rodamaker decided to be part of the solution.

“I know that when I see it on the way to school tomorrow, I know I did something to help,” she said.

In total, approximately 30 volunteers walked the acres of land to pick up the trash and debris. By 4:30 p.m. — just 90 minutes after the groups started the cleanup — more than 50 garbage bags were piled onto Dencklau’s trailer, marking another successful cleanup, Schuur said.

“This is one of the events that I love organizing each year because you see people that you might not see other times of the year, and everyone just works together,” she said. “It’s just a cool event and you’ve accomplished something, you can see that what you’ve done has made a difference.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Volunteers from around the community came together on Tuesday afternoon to clean up trash and debris from the fields north of Walmart and Target in Fort Dodge. The cleanup was organized by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.