2019 Trash for Turtles (Plus) Project Summary

I can’t believe this was my 7th year of Trash for Turtles…but my first of Trash for Turtles (Plus)! I had two main parts to my project this year:

• Fundraising for shark and sea turtle tagging projects in Georgia, and
• Inspiring others to clean up the areas where they live.

First, let’s talk about fundraising. With the help of an amazing local artist, I designed a new shirt – a Love. Protect. Save. t-shirt. By selling these and other items, as well as recycling another 2,500 aluminum cans, I was able to give $1200 to the Caretta Research Project at the Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge and Jacksonville University’s Georgia Shark Project.

I also created a Mahi Sweep Challenge to inspire others to clean up the areas where they live. As part of this challenge, my family and I did a cleanup near or on a waterway each month of my project. In all, we removed about 709 lbs! We also held a raffle at a local fishing tournament to encourage anglers to pick up trash on the river while they were fishing. We had four participants – not bad for our first year!

It’s really important to continue spreading my message to the community, and I was able to do that through eight community outreach events this year. Some of these were booths at local stores. Some were presentations to other kids at local schools and groups. And one very special one was part of the One Hundred Miles’ Choosing to Lead Conference. Not only do I love to share my story, but meeting other people who share my mission really inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing!

Thank you to everyone who helped me reach my goal, who encouraged me along the way, and who are joining me in the fight to make our rivers and oceans healthier. Y’all are turtley awesome!