Hundreds come out for 26th annual St. Johns River cleanup

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville and Keep Jacksonville Beautiful hosted the 26th annual cleanup for the St. Johns River Celebration on Saturday.

Blane Bergfeld, who is completing 20 hours of community service, participated in the cleanup at Fort Caroline National Memorial. “We live around here and we come here all the time, so having it clean for people like us and others is good for the environment,” he said.

Bergfeld was among hundreds who joined in the effort at more than 35 sites throughout Jacksonville, including the Arlington/Beaches area, the Riverside/Avondale/San Marco area, and the Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, Northwest, and North sides.

Allen Marshall spent one-on-one time with his father Leonard. “You never meet nicer people than at these volunteer events. Everyone here is so kind; they’re out here for a good purpose,” Marshall said.

Volunteers had many reasons for pitching in on Saturday.

“I believe the river is one of our greatest assets here in Duval County,” Angela Barber said.

Felicia Boyd, with Timucuan Parks Foundation, said cleanups like this are so important to communities, especially Jacksonville, which has so many parks.

“It’s a great opportunity to get the whole community out, not only cleaning our shorelines, but getting an idea of how much is out there and how they affect it and how they can help keep the shorelines healthy and clean,” she said.

For more information on upcoming cleanup events, visit the city’s website and Timucuan Parks Foundation’s website.


About the Authors:

Zachery “Zach” Lashway anchors KPRC 2+ Now. He began at KPRC 2 as a reporter in October 2021.