Clean-Up Crew

On September 17, a crew of volunteers from the Jesuit High School Environmental Club helped make the waters and coastline of Tampa Bay better by participating in the Hillsborough River & Coastal Cleanup.

For three hours that Saturday morning, students walked along the Courtney Campbell Causeway picking up trash and debris, and charted their efforts.  Much of the cleanup happened in the rocky barrier along the shoreline of Tampa Bay, where volunteers diligently and carefully reached between the slippery rocks for garbage trapped in the crevices.

Jesuit Environmental Club members who participated on Sept. 17 were, from left to right in the homepage photo: Ryan Kervin ’17, Alan Kervin ’19, Preston Lawn ’18, Jacob Tauber ’19, Vincent Girgenti ’20, and Frankie Cisneros ’20. Ryan Kervin is the club president this year, and Alan Kervin and Dane Belton ’19 are co-vice presidents.

Trash collected from the bay and coastline Sept. 17 ranged from soda/beer cans and lids for plastic water bottles to beach chairs, cigarette butts, and cell phones. The Jesuit team collected eight bags of garbage, and left the causeway much cleaner than they found it.

The cleanup was part of a major event, the International Coastal Cleanup, and was sponsored locally by Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.

The Environmental Club, led by moderator Vindri Gajadhar, has several more clean-up events scheduled for later this year, including the post-Gasparilla Parade Cleanup in January and the Great American Cleanup in April.  Also, a club canoe trip on the Hillsborough River is scheduled for Nov. 19.

The Environmental Club is ubiquitous on campus, as it collects paper recycling in all school buildings every Friday. This year the club also is participating in the Ignatian Carbon Challenge, and each month it works toward reducing its carbon footprint. Click here for more information.

Please view the photo slideshow below from the Sept. 17 cleanup: