A Clean Sweep
In conjunction with the statewide NC Litter Sweep, Ocracoke residents came out Saturday morning to tidy up the village. Armed with giant orange garbage bags and grabbers, over sixty volunteers spread out to their assigned areas. Boy Scouts Troop 290 and the Ocracoke Webelos were out in force, as were Ocracoke high school students, who will earn community service hours for their time. (All Ocracoke high school students need ten community service hours a year; Beta Club members need eighteen hours.)
Dolores Gilbert organized the event, and would like to thank Jennifer Garrish, Flavia Burton, Jason Wells, and Howard Bennink for their help, and her husband, John, who collects all the full trash bags with his usual grin. She was especially impressed this year with the great turnout from the Latino community. Dolores credits Lulu Perez with spreading the word en Espanol on the social networks.
Ocracoke Coffee Company generously donated coffee and muffins for the volunteers, and the Variety Store donated gloves. NCDOT donated the bags and safety vests, and NPS loaned the use of the garbage grabbers.
Dolores has been leading the charge against litterbugs since 2012, and this was her 6th Litter Sweep so far.
Fifty-one bags of trash is the smallest haul they've had. "It does get less each year, but of course a big storm could change all that!," she said. "Now we need to tackle highway 12 and outside the village!"
And the beach, too! Another volunteer opportunity awaits: the annual Beach Sweep is scheduled for October 11th from 10am – noon. Meet Howard Bennink at the lifeguard beach to get your supplies.
