Guild continues tradition of helping with waterfront cleanup on Earth Day in Buffalo

Nerf darts. Tires. Plastic sheets. Hundreds of bottles, caps and snack wrappers. You name it. They found it.

A group of volunteers from the Buffalo Newspaper Guild joined the annual community effort to help beautify Buffalo’s waterfront on Earth Day as part of Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper’s Spring Sweep cleanup.

Continuing our union tradition, two dozen Guild members and their family members gathered to remove garbage near the mouth of Scajaquada Creek in Buffalo as part of the April 22 event.

The Guild’s group helped dispose of a seemingly endless supply of tiny pieces of plastic, along with loads of other trash and junk that littered the area off Niagara Street, beneath the Scajaquada Expressway.

“A big thank you to all of our members who volunteered and to those who brought extra hands to help,” said Aaron Besecker, the Guild’s vice president of mobilization. “Waterkeeper’s cleanup is important and I’m happy the Guild continues to make a strong showing year after year.”

The Guild joins the cleanup effort as a tribute to our colleague John “Jay” Bonfatti, who passed away in 2008. Jay loved the outdoors and believed strongly in caring for the natural wonders of Western New York.