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The August 27th event will be more than just a beach sweep. Teams of volunteers along the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will take water samples, measure long shore currents, and perform other beach health assessments in addition to removing, cataloging and weighing beach debris. |
SUNY Fredonia to SUNY Fredonia’s Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center and Sustainability Committee will lead a beach cleanup at Point Gratiot in Dunkirk from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27.
The beach sweep is part of an official media launch for the new Adopt-a-Beach™ program in New York State.
Adopt-a-Beach™ is the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ premier volunteer program, with nearly 11,000 participants ranging from individuals and families to schools and businesses.
Although the program has been active in other Great Lakes states since 2003, it has only recently expanded to include New York and all five Great Lakes.
The August 27th event will be more than just a beach sweep. Teams of volunteers along the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will take water samples, measure long shore currents, and perform other beach health assessments in addition to removing, cataloging and weighing beach debris. Information collected by the teams will then be entered into an online database, which is used to educate the public, inform local beach authorities and improve local beaches.
Students needing transportation to Point Gratiot should meet at 11:40 a.m. in the Fenton Hall parking lot. All other volunteers should gather at the Point Gratiot Park parking lot (across from the metal stairs that descend to the beach) at noon for a brief orientation.
Gloves, garbage bags, and Adopt-a-Beach™ materials will be provided. At 1 p.m. some volunteers will sort, weigh and catalog the collected debris while others will perform beach health assessments. Results from the cleanup will then be reported to the New York Adopt-a-Beach™ and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
The beach cleanup is sponsored by the FACE Center and SUNY Fredonia’s Sustainability Committee.
For more information about the event, please contact Christina Jarvis at jarvisc@fredonia.edu. To learn more about the Adopt-a-Beach™ program, visit http://www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach.
