Photo: Contributed

Left, Kane Blake, founder of the OFTF. Right, Marc Leger, director of community relations at Macdonald Communities.

The firm behind the Lakestone development in Lake Country has made a $10,000 donation to the Okanagan Forest Task Force.

This is the third year Macdonald Communities Ltd. has financially sponsored the volunteer-run group dedicated to cleaning up illegal dumping in the backcountry.

“By now, most people are aware of the massive amount of garbage, discarded metal, illegally dumped vehicles and remnants of abandoned encampments the OFTF volunteers have pulled out of the bush in our local backcountry over the last five or six years (745,000 pounds altogether),” said Marc Leger, Macdonald Communities Ltd. director of community relations.

“This is an astonishing accomplishment!”

This latest donation is earmarked to offset some of the costs for specialized equipment for group leader Kane Blake’s bush truck.

Blake and OFTF volunteers routinely also help out with fire-related issues in the bush, doing things like dousing abandoned campfires and helping enforce fire bans. That as made for a very busy summer for the volunteers.

"I encourage everyone to join the OFTF Facebook group and get themselves involved in an upcoming clean-up project or to make a donation towards their next fundraising event,” Leger said.

OFTF is currently planning a cleanup of the Gillard Forest Service Road on Oct. 15.