More than 500 volunteers join Citrus County shoreline cleanups for Aquatics Partnership anniversary

Citrus County celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Aquatics Partnership with a countywide shoreline cleanup that program participants said mobilized more than 500 volunteers.

“Over the countywide, we have over 500 volunteers out today from north, south, east, and west,” a volunteer organizer said on the program, citing cleanup activity at locations including Crystal River and Potts Preserve. A Girl Scout leader added that her troop had about 30 participants on the day of the cleanup and said the Girl Scouts in Citrus County provided roughly 260 volunteers overall.

Organizers described the Adopt-a-Shore program as a concentrated effort that removes large amounts of waste in a single week and urged volunteers not to leave sites messier than they found them. A volunteer who follows the cleanups said, “We come in and basically we pick up all that remaining waste afterwards. We don't wanna, we don't wanna leave something messier than it was before we got to it.”

Program host Steve Howard closed the segment by urging community leadership and modeling stewardship for youth. The program encouraged residents to join future monthly efforts to keep Citrus County shorelines and waterways clean.