Shawn Townley is used to blasting thick layers of swampy funk off gutters, rooftops and fences — it’s his job.
The greenish-brown algae is fact of life on the West Coast, and while it provides the owner-operator of Lil Squirt Power Washing with paying customers, it has also offered Townley a unique way to give back to Coquitlam, one playground at a time.
“The community has been good to me, so I guess it’s my way of saying thank you,” he said.
So far, Townley has lined up a handful of playgrounds desperate for a power wash — some next to churches, others outside a community centre, and several in front of daycares.
Townley said he was first inspired by a friend who pointed out discarded needles at the playground near his house. But since then, Townley has gained inspiration from other philanthropic cleaners, from an American man scrubbing the gravestones of veterans to a fellow Montreal power washer who inspired an international movement by scouring hateful graffiti off the city’s walls.
Today, March 30, Townley has turned his nozzle to the playground at Pat and Betsy's Como Lake Kids Village Daycare.
“I’ll be honest: of course this kind of thing makes my business look good,” he admitted. “But I sincerely do want to help keep the community clean.”
Townley’s father, Fred, is visiting from his home in Saskatchewan, where the family grew up. He says giving back has always been part of the family’s ethos.
“He was raised with a sense of community,” said Fred, filling up the power washer with a jerry can.
Fred is no slouch when it comes to cleaning up either. He spent most of his career working in a credit union. But since he retired, he says he has been volunteering in places like Malawi, Sri Lanka and Mongolia, helping create and manage credit unions in places rife with fraud and corruption.
“We have no idea how good we have it here,” he said.
Hoses are coiled, sponges rung dry and buckets emptied.
“There’s my good deed for the day,” said Townley with a grin, “Now I can be bad.”
