A grassroots campaign to remove litter from the spoil islands is scheduled to continue Saturday with a group of 100 volunteers expected to participate in an “Indian River Island Cleanup,” sponsored by the county chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Organizers of the event said they have recruited local high school athletes and coaches, firefighters, church members and other concerned area residents to join more than 20 volunteers from the Clean Water Collective, a Vero Beach volunteer group dedicated to cleaning up the lagoon and its islands.
According to local kayaker Paul Kelly and CWC member Jeff Miller, who met randomly at the Oslo Boat Ramp last month and decided to organize the project, cleanup crews will gather at four locations – the Oslo Boat Ramp and the boat launches at Riverside Park, Round Island Park and at the base of the 17th Street Bridge – at 10 a.m.
“We’ll go until people get tired and want to stop,” Miller said, adding that anyone interested in participating in the cleanup should go to Riverside Park.
Kelly said his only concern was whether the group would have enough boats to transport the cleanup crews to the islands. He said the Sheriff’s Office has offered to use its boat to help, and Miller said he has been talking to local boaters.
“We’re doing everything we can to find people with boats,” Kelly said. “You never know how many people are going to show up for something like this. We could get 50; we could get 200. If we get 100, we’ll be thrilled. But we’ve got to have the boats to get them to the islands.”
For more information, Kelly can be reached by phone at 772-774-9008.
The event is the latest response to a Vero Beach 32963 April 14 story and photographs that revealed the spoil islands trash problem.
