Saturday, February 18, 2012

ASF volunteers invited youth and staff from a local Clearwater Boys & Girls Clubs to join us in our first beach cleanup of 2012, at North Beach, Fort Desoto Park. ASF volunteers arrived bright and early to get set up for the day, and despite heavy fog throughout morning, it turned into an absolutely perfect sunny (and warm!) February day. 

The kids arrived to the beach around 10:00 A.M., and of course were fired up and ready for action! Event coordinator, Justin Pasquazzi welcomed the kids and gave them a brief introduction of ASF and our efforts in the community, our game plan for the cleanup, and of course, what we had in store for the afternoon- BEACH TIME! If you have ever been to an ASF event, you already know that 'all work and no play' just isn't in our vocabulary, especially when we're at such a beautiful beach!

Today's cleanup effort was to focus was the mangrove areas between the snack bar and the North Beach bridge, which is one of the more heavily used areas of the park. The mangrove areas are an important part of the area's ecosystem and home to many types of plants and animals. The root system of the mangroves serve as a filter, or catch-all, for all kinds of garbage- staying on top of it is a never ending job. The kids didn't hesitate to jump right into the thick underbrush and gather up cans, bottles, shoes, and every other piece of trash they could find. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun navigating the maze of mangrove roots, and were quickly grabbing trash that the adults could only dream of reaching. I think we were supposed to be having a contest to see who could get the most trash, but I don't think anyone really cared- we were all out there working together and through teramwork, the "ASF Army" gathered up nearly 100 pounds of trash.

A very important part of ASF Youth events, which many times goes unmentioned, are the actual volunteers who are at the very core of our mission.

Throughout the day, many positive conversations are had about various plants and animals we spotted, the park itself, and the importance of giving back to your community. Like adults, kids also need to get away from their everyday routines and do something different once in a while.