Dozens of volunteers came out to Blue Cypress Park yesterday to join Timucuan Parks Foundation for a MLK Day of Service event. The group of 47 volunteers spent the morning cleaning up litter from under the boardwalk at the fishing pier and along the shoreline. MLK Day of Service is a nationwide observance celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Citizens who live near Blue Cypress Park, Sandalwood High School Greenstate Environmental Club students, members of TPF’s Trail Team and people specifically looking to help at a MLK Day event joined the nonprofit to pick up the litter.
The volunteers collected about 50 bags of trash and piles of lumber that had been left behind or washed ashore. There was Styrofoam, food packaging, bottle and cans. The strangest item found was a small old tube TV with the back missing. The importance of events such as this was underscored by the presence of egrets, dolphins, hawks and fish while the volunteers worked. Cleaning up the environment helps protect wildlife by removing harmful materials they may mistake as food and helps keep their habitat natural.
TPF thanks all the volunteers who came out to help. The MLK Day event was done in partnership with JaxParks. For more information on how to volunteer with TPF for its next cleanup event, visit https://www.timucuanparks.org/volunteer/.
