Protecting Paradise in action for the Great American Cleanup

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Protecting Paradise was put into action in South Florida Saturday morning for the Great American Cleanup.

“We’re really happy to be here as a family to teach him the importance of protecting our beaches and our paradise," said WPTV Morning Reporter Janny Rodriguez, whose husband and infant son joined her at Spanish River Park in Boca Raton for the Great American Cleanup.

Members of the WPTV team joined forces with Gumbo Limbo at Spanish River Park in Boca Raton, Beach Keepers Inc. in Gramercy Park near West Palm Beach, and the Jupiter Neighborhood Enhancement Action Team in Dubois Park to pick up litter Saturday morning.

“Being South County, it’s nice to be in the area I cover and protect the area that I’m in every day," said Miranda Christian, the South County reporter for WPTV.

“A lot of this trash that we’re finding on the side of the road, I kind of wonder if it gets blown away and into our water streams and eventually ends up in our ocean," said WPTV Reporter Alanna Quillen, who volunteered in Gramercy Park.

About three million people volunteer around the country for the Great American Cleanup every April.

“We’ve been finding a lot of cigarette butts and the mouthpieces to certain types of cigarettes, bottle caps," said WPTV Reporter Michelle Quesada, who filled up a bucket with trash in Gramercy Park.

Hundreds of people were expected to comb the beaches in Boca Raton for the Great American Cleanup, collecting about 1,000 pounds of trash.

“We need to do this for us, for our children, and for the world," said Arnelle Kendall, who volunteered at Spanish River Park Saturday.

“These turtles are thinking that these plastics are food and they’re dying from this," said Shaelah Kendall, Arnelle's daughter. "Nobody deserves to be eating trash for dinner or plastic, thinking that it’s some gourmet meal.”