Area residents will secure an opportunity to give back to the community and help make a difference this weekend during Idaho Power’s annual Hells Canyon Clean Up event.

Volunteers are asked to convene at the Oxbow School before 9 a.m. Saturday and then journey out to pick up trash along the Snake River, roads and campgrounds.

As an added plus, there will be a free barbecue for volunteers at Idaho Power’s Copperfield Park at the end of the day.

No doubt the event is in a secluded spot but that shouldn’t deter people who want to help. The Hells Canyon Clean Up event is one that is needed, and it is a good way for locals who care about our great landscapes to help out.

We’d all like to believe such programs are unnecessary but, unfortunately they are not. While we often take for granted the towering vistas and beautiful country we are so fortunate to see every day, we also all have some responsibility to ensure those cherished panoramas remain pristine.

Volunteers are a crucial part of the overall health of a community. We need people to step up and give their time when they can. Volunteer work can be one of the most rewarding actions we can do, and it pays off in a variety of unseen ways over a long period of time.

We are all busy. Our schedules are filled with jobs and families, and it can appear that squeezing a few hours or a day to help out to be an impossible task.

Yet just donating a few hours as a volunteer can make a real difference. The list of venues that need volunteers is long — from food banks to cleanup projects — and the need never fades. That is why it is so important for those of us who can to donate some time.

An effort like the Hells Canyon Clean Up is an excellent method to help the community and the region while ensuring the landscape we all value remains vibrant.

If you can, lend a hand.