Beach will get clean at Trash Bash
Keep Lee County Beautiful will team up with the Pilot Club of Fort Myers Beach to host the 20th annual Earth Day Trash Bash Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to noon at Beach Elementary School.
The Great American Cleanup is a countrywide litter pick-up campaign where volunteer groups and individuals unite for the environmental cause. Lee County residents and visitors are invited to clean up their neighborhoods and communities. At least 14 meeting sites have been established.
On the Beach front, the local Pilot Club will be coordinating the event with KLCB. Anyone interested in volunteering for Trash Bash should meet at Beach Elementary at 9 a.m. for area assignments. Gloves and trash bags will be supplied; drinks and food will also be available from Costco.
Organizations that participated last year included Girl Scout Troop 197 and the National Surfrider Foundation. The Fort Myers Beach Yacht Club is among the volunteers to sign up early this year.
The 2009 theme “The Earth Is Our Home” has been echoed in the Beach school and students have created artwork and writings that will be on display the morning of the cleanup. Prizes will be awarded to students at each grade level for outstanding entry.
“We are looking forward to seeing the art and written entries for the Earth Day competition,” said Alice Plaatje and Theresa Shea, co-chairs of the Earth Day Trash Bash. The winning entries will be listed at the Beach School site on the day of the event. Plaatje, a member of the local Pilot club and board member of KLCB, recognized the significance of the event.
“This project, coordinated by KLCB and the Pilot Foundation is very special to our club since this was our first project after receiving our charter more than 20 years ago,” she said. “I’d like to express thanks to the charter members, especially Georgia Shakti-Hill who was the project creator.”
On Monday, April 20, Beach Elementary will let the school children out early and the local Publix supermarket will supply free ice cream for kids to enjoy on the playground, according to Plaatje.
KLCB is a private non-profit organization dedicated to litter prevention and responsible solid waste disposal practices.
“Everyone has littered either intentionally or accidentally in their life,” said Trish Fancher, program director for Keep Lee County Beautiful. “We’ve had a lot of interest from organizations who are expected to help out on the beach. We expect more than 1,000 volunteers.”
In 2008, The Trash Bash volunteers removed more than 64,000 pounds of trash and debris from Lee County’s shoreline, roadsides and parks. The volunteers reported collecting very full bags while recovering unusual items such as a dead cat, a snake skin, two crab pots and a marker buoy.
In addition to the Earth Day Trash Bash, the local Pilot club also conducts three smaller beach clean-ups and the annual Coastal Clean Up in September.
If interested in being a sponsor or a site coordinator, please call KLCB at 334-3488.
If you’d like to participate in the cleanup, send an email to klcb32@cs.com with your contact information. No pre-registration is necessary.