Photo story: Gandy Beach cleanup

On the third Saturday of every month, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, a nonprofit organization with a mission to conserve and beautify the natural environment, organizes a community beach cleanup at Gandy Beach in St. Petersburg. In November, 50 community volunteers came out to help out cleaning the shoreline and scenic mangroves. 

Keep Pinellas Beautiful Operations Manager Paul Mitchell gives the volunteers instructions before they disperse across more than a mile of beach along Gandy Boulevard.

The Welcome Standard, a concierge firm for hiring teams bringing talent to Tampa Bay, was also at the cleanup. Founder Tori Smith welcomed volunteers with iced coffee and encouraging words.

A popular spot for fishing, swimming, and partying, St Petersburg’s Gandy Beach is also a vital ecosystem to preserve. It is lined with lush mangroves and home to wildlife.  Supplied with gloves, trash bags, and pick-up tools, volunteers spent Saturday morning collecting debris and trash from the beach.

A volunteer picks up plastic litter that could endanger the local wildlife and marine life.

Gandy Beach is a stopover for migrating and wintering shorebirds such as these marbled godwits foraging by the shoreline, as well as black-skimmers, American oystercatchers, and terns.

The beach cleanup brings the community together for a meaningful cause and raises awareness of the natural beauty surrounding us. Protecting this ecosystem is crucial for us today and for the benefit of future generations.

Volunteers return to the Keep Pinellas Beautiful station with full trash bags that will be dumped into a mobile dumpster. Over the years, the monthly cleanup at Gandy Beach has had a substantial impact on the environmental health of the community.

Focused on litter prevention, waste reduction, conservation, and beautification, Keep Pinellas Beautiful’s cleanup events receive support from many sponsors. Through education and engagement, the volunteered-based nonprofit organization has developed valuable partnerships that strengthen conservation and beautification efforts across Pinellas County.

For more information, go to Keep Pinellas Beautiful