(CBS DETROIT)– Volunteers on Belle Isle were hard at work Thursday raking and bagging, all in an effort for environmental protection.
“Encouraging individuals to kinda come up on their own time in their own comfort space along the Detroit River and host their own clean up, come out with their families their friends,” said Alyson Melnik, volunteer coordinator for the Belle Isle Conservancy.READ MORE: Michigan State AD Beekman Steps Down, Takes On New Role At School
Melnik says this year Earth Day has become Earth week. The Conservancy is part of a larger coalition of river facing organizations encouraging volunteers to clean up along the Detroit River. Groups of volunteers have been out every day since last Saturday, and on Earth Day Thursday, employees of Sun Communities traded their office work, for a day of service.
“We are kind of spread out across the park we’re focusing on the children’s area right now and getting some leaves and trash picked up,” said Kasey Long who along with about 15 Sun Communities and RV Resorts employees volunteered their time.
“We’re bigger than Central Park I don’t think a lot of people realize that 982 acres so there’s a lot of land to cover, we’re super lucky and fortunate to have volunteers,” said Melnik.
She says these volunteers are not only helping to beautify the park, their cleanup efforts will help our eco system.
“Even if it is a mistake that the litter falls on the ground it’s going to somehow end up back into our oceans which makes a huge impact on the wild life there,” Melnik said.
If you would like to participant there’s still time to grab a rake and hit an area along the Detroit River, be sure to take a selfie for a chance to win a brand new Shinola bike.
“Take a picture of yourself or whoever you came with cleaning up, you can post it on your social media and tag us either at Belle Isle Conservancy or Detroit River Coalition,” said Melnik. “Local Impact like this can make such a large impact on a Global scale.”
Information to enter the Shinola bike contest is as follows….READ MORE: Court Extends Intimidation Crime To Transgender Victims
• Between Saturday April 17th and Saturday, April 24th, visit a designated location along the Iron Belle Trail. Visit https://www.detroitrivercoalition.com/ for map.
• Facilitate your own mini cleanup – by yourself, meet with friends, take the kids or rally workmates for a (covid-safe) team.
• Post a photo of your cleanup on Instagram or Facebook and tag us @DetroitRiverCoalition. If you do not have access to social media, photo can be emailed to email@example.com with ‘Contest Photo’ in the subject line.
• Complete and submit this form **and** post or email required cleanup photo by 11:59pm, Saturday, April 24th. Both actions are required for contest entry.
• One form submission + photo = one contest entry. Only one person, the name listed on the form, allowed per entry.
• In the comment section below, provide the number of people in your group (including yourself), your general location along the trail and either the number of full (13 gallon, kitchen) trash bags filled – or the weight of the trash collected in lbs.
• Winner will be selected at random.
• Winner announced Friday, April 30th, informed via email as well as via social media.
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