City program recognizes wintertime good Samaritans

PENTICTON -The City of Penticton has a program to encourage neighbours to help neighbours during winter months when precipitation piles up on city sidewalks.

Snow Angels was introduced to help raise the profile of “unsung heroes” in city neighbourhoods – people who unselfishly help their neighbours to keep sidewalks clean and safe.

The program was designed to work in conjunction with the city’s recently introduced “Good Neighbour Bylaw,” introduced in 2012. The bylaw is a wide ranging edict designed to replace previous bylaws, at the same time encouraging civic responsibility and help preserve quality of life. Part of the new bylaw requires sidewalks to be cleared of snow and ice before 11 a.m.

City of Penticton Communications Officer Simone Blais said Snow Angels is part of the city’s education and awareness program.

“We wanted to recognize those people who assist the neighbour who needs help." she says. “There are a large number of seniors, single moms and others who aren’t always able to clean their sidewalks, or clean them in time.”

City residents are encouraged to nominate the neighbours on their street who approach snow removal with the larger community in mind. A nomination form is available through city hall. Nominees receive a city mug and a letter of thanks from the mayor for their civic-mindedness.

“The public works department is working to augment the prizing a bit,” Blais says. “Improving the prizing is a work in progress. We had 12 nominations last year, but the program is new – I feel that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the number of people in the city who are out there helping their neighbours. We need to create more awareness.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.