On Sunday, April 20th, the Tottenville High School American Red Cross Club set out to make a Staten Island beach as clean as it could possibly get. Partnering with the Staten Island Tech Red Cross Club, the club members gathered together in Staten Island’s Wolf’s Pond Park. At the main headquarters, they were given gloves and black garbage bags, along with a few instructions on proper clean-up and safety procedures. Then, they were off to work!

The group of about ten worked for two long hours, withstanding the cold weather and ripping winds, which made it particularly difficult to keep the big garbage bags under control. They found all kinds of garbage – everything from pens to bottle caps to plastic bags. The members also found a medical syringe, which was carefully and safely taken care of by a park ranger. The boys in the clean-up group mainly took care of the many logs and pieces of wood that littered the beach, piling them up neatly.

After two hours of arduous work, the club members were all cold and tired. With several large bags full of garbage, they headed back for headquarters. Despite being tired and cold, each member left with a sense of accomplishment and fulfilled duty to their community.

If you want to help out with endeavors like this next year, join the American Red Cross Club! You’ll have fun while earning community service credit. C'mon, join!