On Sunday, December 5, 2021, more than 50 volunteers from the WeLoveU Foundation and Power Home Remodeling cleaned Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa Bay, FL. The Clearwater Parks and Recreation Department joined the effort by distributing cleaning supplies. In April, WeLoveU volunteers cleaned the Courtney Campbell Causeway with Gannon University students and filled 37 bags of trash.

Returning to Tampa Bay’s Causeway

The Courtney Campbell Causeway is a stretch of land and road that connects Tampa Bay and Clearwater. The causeway includes beautiful beaches and a recreational hub where people can enjoy leisure time and games. However, over time trash accumulated onto the grass and within the mangrove trees. As a result, the waste washes into the sea, and wildlife mistake it for food.

The volunteers began cleaning in earnest at 10:30 a.m. While walking along the Courtney Campbell Causeway, they found various types of trash, big and small. They picked up plastic bottles, fabric, glass, driftwood, Styrofoam blocks, and a car muffler. The cleanup ended around 1 p.m. By then, the WeLoveU and Power Home Remodeling volunteers had filled 47 bags of trash. The trash, weighing more than 300 pounds, was placed in a dumpster provided by Clearwater Parks and Recreation.

“It’s volunteer groups like you that come out here and clean up, and it’s an ongoing presence of volunteers out in our public spaces that keeps them clean,” said Clearwater Parks and Recreation Volunteer Specialist Samantha Moullet. “Volunteers like to focus on the big trash and how much they’re picking up, but every tiny little piece of plastic that we remove from our public spaces so that it’s not washing into our oceans or our waterways or our streams does make a huge difference. Those small pieces of trash, microplastics, cigarette butts, and bottle caps are as important as the big things because the turtles, birds, wildlife, and sea creatures like to eat.”

Hearing From the Volunteers

After the cleanup, WeLoveU and Power Home Remodeling participants expressed their happiness to join the cleanup. For many, it was their first time volunteering again since the pandemic. “Everybody wants to help their family a little bit more than strangers,” said PHR employee Debby. “But if we have that thought that we’re all one family, then it’s a little bit easier to give.”

“First of all, the name of the organization is such a powerful name, powerful message because I think love does conquer all,” said first-time volunteer David Morrison. “And the more we show love toward one another by our actions, not just our words, we can change the world. So, I am so happy to be a part of this organization, this project, and those projects to come just because I do have a love for humanity, and what better organization than this one that says WeLoveU.”

Click here to read about WeLoveU’s multi-state cleanups with Power Home Remodeling.