By: Sharon Aron Baron
This month, Tamarac students can earn service hours while helping clean up local beaches as a part of the Ocean Conservancy’s 34th Annual International Coastal Cleanup.
During the International Coastal Cleanup in 2018, 2,541 Broward County volunteers removed 4,339 pounds of trash from our coastline while more than 23 million pounds of trash was collected by a total of 1,080,358 volunteers worldwide.
On September 21, 2019, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Broward’s Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division are organizing a beach cleanup at 12 different locations:
Deerfield: Deerfield Island Park and Deerfield Beach
Pompano Beach: Pavilion #3
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: El Prado Park
Ft. Lauderdale: Earl Lifshey Park, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, and South Beach Park
Dania Beach: Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park at the Marina Pavilion and Dania Beach next to the Quarterdeck Restaurant.
Hollywood: North Beach Park and Oceanwalk
Hallandale Beach: South City Beach Park
Students need to show up at one of the Coastal Cleanup sites, register and participate. After the event, the site captain can sign the community service school form or issue one from the county.
All volunteers should bring a hat, sunscreen, gloves, and water. A single individual can participate in this event and kids of all ages are welcome, with the direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian. Materials for the cleanup are provided by Broward County (trash bags, gloves, data cards). Some volunteers are bringing buckets to collect the trash. This is a great way to minimize the number of bags accumulated at the end of an event.
After their participation, they are eligible to receive an event t-shirt (limited amount) and community service hours.
To volunteer at one of Broward’s 12 locations, email coastalcleanup@broward.org. Be sure to include your contact information, the site you wish to attend, and the number of people in your group.