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Hundreds of Keep Pinellas Beautiful volunteers participate in Great American Clean-up

It's Keep Pinellas Beautiful's signature event. Hundreds of pounds of trash are removed from local beaches in a matter of hours.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Every year, Keep America Beautiful hosts its annual clean-up event, Keep America Beautiful. Local chapters across the country participate in the event, including Keep Pinellas Beautiful. 

Roughly 200-250 volunteers joined at Gandy Beach on Saturday morning to collect trash from the beach. 

Gandy Beach is a well-known recreational area. It's often crowded on weekends with families enjoying a day in the sun, kayakers and paddle boarders and even some fishermen.

With so much foot traffic, once the sun sets, so much litter is left behind. The beach area has large trash cans for the public to dispose of their trash, but much of it doesn't make it into those cans. 

Keep Pinellas Beautiful holds clean-up events weekly on Gandy Beach, where roughly 500 pounds of litter is removed. Pat DePlasco, the executive director expects a similar amount of trash to come from their Great American Clean-up event. 

Keep Pinellas Beautiful hosted the 2023 Great American Cleanup, the nation’s largest community improvement program, in partnership with Keep America Beautiful, Pinellas County, and Seagram's Escapes from March 1 to June 30. This Keep America Beautiful signature event engages over 7,000 volunteers, removing litter and beautifying locations throughout Pinellas County. The main event was held on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at various sites throughout the county. 

To learn how to get involved in other clean-up events, click here.

Keep America Beautiful is celebrating the Great American Cleanup’s 25th year in 2023, between March 21 to June 22. It is as important as ever to help end litter across our great nation.

Regarding litter collection, Great American Cleanup event organizers have been provided with clear guidance to ensure that volunteer health is the first priority.

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