(ABC 6 News) – It was all hands on deck on the shores of the Zumbro River Thursday in the Med City, as the Rochester Downtown Alliance and the Clean and Safe Ambassador Team cleaned up the city.

The Rochester Downtown Alliance began the journey at 9 AM Thursday morning. Spotting anything they could see posing a threat to the Zumbro River.

One volunteer has been cleaning up the river ever since 2020. She described what keeps her coming back.

“It’s just great to be outdoors. It feels like you’re making a difference. And it’s visible. You can see the impact you made at the end of the day as you’re walking back to notice how beautiful the banks are now,” said Katie Adelman, volunteer of the Clean and Safe Ambassador Team.

Cam Hurd is the operations manager with the team as well. He walks through the process of the pickup every year. He says the team starts where the banks meet the water and goes from there. With the larger objects such as lime scooters, mini fridges, and shopping carts being found near bridges and main walkways.

“A good probably 70 percent of what were gonna get today is gonna come from being inside of the water, where the water touches the bank, or like culvert areas, where you see culvert’s, there’s normally a fair amount of trash collecting around there as well,” said Hurd.

Both members say the help of the public with picking up trash can go along way to helping the clean up process go smoother year after year.

More information on ways to get involved with other Rochester Downtown Alliance events can be found here.