2020 Trash for Turtles (Plus) Project Summary

Another year of Trash for Turtles is over already?! It feels like this year flew by way too fast. Although there were complications unlike any other, we were still able to accomplish great things! I am going to highlight some of the awesome things we were able to do together.

Before the season began, I wanted to come up with an unique idea for this year’s project. It took some great thought, but eventually I formed a plan with my awesome friends, Mrs Kris Williams with the Caretta Research Project and Mr Andrew Lyons at Jacksonville University. For any donation or purchase of my cool fundraising items, people were able to play the “Name Game” for a sea turtle or shark adoption package! My friends were so amazing to help me put this together, and because of them we now have “Pete” the lemon shark and “Esperanza” the loggerhead sea turtle swimming off the Georgia coast.

This “Name Game” turned out to be a wonderful and fun idea! I enjoyed drawing the winners’ names out of the container. The suspense was unreal, especially because I did it live! Congratulations again to our winners, Amy Fazio and Suzanne Nichols (you can watch the drawing here!).

Additionally, my family and I also organized and participated in a combined 5 clean ups! We had hoped to do more, but we had to cancel our last two Trash for Turtles (Plus) cleanups due to the coronavirus. Still, we did what we could with the time we had. I was especially inspired by all of the other kids who came to help get that disgusting trash out of the environment. And we had a great time doing it!

Like all years, I continued to collect aluminum cans at local cleanups and from people in my community. This year, I was able to recycle over 141 lbs of cans, bringing my project total to 2,709 lbs! Thank you to everyone who supported by donating cans. These cans will be turned into other things, reducing the trash. Even though it seems small, it can make a big difference!

Unfortunately, I was only able to do one outreach event, the Waterfront Celebration at Jacksonville University, in early March. However, I plan to do WAY more next year. I can’t wait to meet and speak with more kids about ocean conservation and marine debris issues in Georgia!

A big part of my project every year is raising money to support ocean conservation projects in Georgia. This year, money went to the Carretta Research Project on Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge and Jacksonville University’s lemon shark research study at Little St Simons Island. Even with a global pandemic, we were able to come together to raise a whopping $1300! Plus, thanks to a grant I received (read more here) that number got turned to $1400! This money goes to support these awesome groups in their conservation work to preserve sharks and sea turtles for future years to come. In fact, I have learned some of the shark money has already been used to buy a micro-chip reader, external tags, and genetic sample vials!

All of this for these amazing creatures is absolutely amazing, and I can’t thank all of you enough! You all are so TURTLE-y JAW-some! By working together, we are making a difference for the next generation!

I can’t wait for next year to make an even bigger difference! Stay tuned…