Wednesday, March 29, Mayor Losner began the presentations section of the City of Homestead’s monthly Council meeting by recognizing and honoring the volunteers of the Turtle Team, a local, non-profit, 501(3) (C) organization that has made it their mission to debris clean-up of shorelines since 2020. Made up of mostly student members, these volunteers seek to clean up the shoreline and below the surface of the bay, to remove garbage that continues to impact the environment and marine life.
Rather than go to a higher profile location such as Miami Beach for clean-ups, the Turtle Team members have been concentrating their efforts in the area of Black Point Marina; a busy, leisure boating area that exits out to Biscayne Bay. Next to Homestead Bayfront Park, the marina is in Homestead’s backyard. By partnering with the Miami- Dade Parks Department, these dedicated student volunteers have removed over 7,000 lbs. of debris and put in well over 6,000 hours of community service time to create cleaner waterways.
The Turtle Team has representative Ambassadors at many of the local schools and is usually able to recruit an average of about 30 folks for clean-ups.
Mayor Losner recognized the Turtle Team with a Certificate of Appreciation that acknowledged the co-founders of the Turtle Team; Logan Shapiro, Mason Shapiro, and Hunter Sosa, along with their President, Erica Watts for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to the environment.
Other Turtle Team volunteers are Samuel Montero, Ricardo Alvarez-De La Hoz, and Amanda Gonzalez.
Visit www.theturtleteam.org to learn more about their mission and how you can get involved.