44th Annual Broward County Waterway Cleanup Wrap-Up
By: MIASF Staff
Date posted: Mar 30, 2021 Tue
On March 6th and 7th approximately 800 volunteers participated in the kick-off weekend of the 44th Annual Broward County Waterway Cleanup, the county’s largest and longest-running environmental event. Presented by the Florida Inland Navigation District (F.I.N.D.) and organized by MIASF, the first weekend of the Broward County Waterway Cleanup resulted in the collection of over 4,000 pounds of trash and debris from over 34 sites across the county. Volunteers, ranging in age from young children to adults, participated on land and in water with 90 vessels, including boats, kayaks, and paddleboards.
Instead of the traditional one-day event, this year’s Waterway Cleanup kicked-off on March 6th and occurred each weekend throughout the month of March, at more than 30 official locations across Broward County. Over the course of all 4 weekends, over 1,200 volunteers cleaned up a grand total of more than 7,800 pounds of trash!
In addition to the Waterway Cleanup, MIASF hosts middle school and high school recycled-art, essay, and short-story contests each year. Multiple scholarships were awarded, and this year’s winners are:
-$500 Essay Contest Winner: Jovan Alfonzo, Pembroke Pines Charter High School
-$250 Short Story Contest Winner: Natalie Alfonso, New River Middle School
-$100 Short Story Contest Honorable Mention: Miles Derrico, New River Middle School
-$250 1st Place Middle School Recycled-Art Contest Winner: Keira Fahy, New River Middle School
-$150 2nd Place Middle School Recycled-Art Contest: Sterling Roesch, New River Middle School
-$100 3rd Place Middle School Recycled-Art Contest: Zofia Chmielewska, North Broward Prepatory School
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s modified event and a special thank you to all of our sponsors: Broward County, Rolly Marine, Advanced Mechanical Enterprises, City of Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs Improvement District, CRYC Sailing & Water Sports Foundation, Derecktor Shipyard, Dometic, Environmental Marine, Florida Inland Navigation District, Harbour Towne Marina, Henry B. Thomas, LLC, IsoFlex, JM Family Enterprises, Land and Sea, Lauderdale Isles Water Management District, National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, City of Oakland Park, Rush Roll-Off, Starbrite, The Chappell Group, Water Taxi, and Wright Maritime Group. And thank you to Ocean Conservancy for allowing Waterway Cleanup to use their app technology for this event!