Read recent articles to see what we've been up too.
CLICK ARCHIVE FOR OLDER ARTICLES
"The Big Dig"
October 18, 2008
R.A.Halasz
On a sunny Saturday morning many turned out to volunteer and help plant and creat a wild habitat at the Boynton Beach Recreation and Art Center. The project was headed up by Vicki Robertson whose vision came to fruition with the help of Sand Sifter volunteers as well as others from the community.
Bird houses, a bat house, bird baths and squirrel eating centers were just a few of the things that were put in around that Art center to intice the wildlife. Some of the plant life that was put in is endangered therefore this project is also important for maintaining and sustaining the plant life that one day may be lost.
Many pitched in from pulling roots to plants trees to make this area a brighter and more environmentally friendly one. With so much help the project that was slated to go from 8:00am to past 12:00pm was completed and cleaned up by 11:30. Without these habitats and gardens our world would be a bleeker place. Keeping it clean and revitalizing our community makes a world of difference. So thank you to people like Vicki Robertson who take the time and care enough to make a difference.
volunteers planting Vicki Robertson
Mike planting a tree Gary and Ginny hanging a bird feeder
Volunteers to turn art center into wildlife-friendly area
| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 15, 2008
The Sand Sifters, a local nonprofit beach cleanup group, will be bringing some of its volunteers to the Boynton Beach Art Center, 125 SE Second Ave., from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdayto help other volunteers plant wildflowers and native plants around the facility.
"They are digging up the entire perimeter of the facility and planting all new plants to attract wildlife," said Gary Solomon, Sand Sifters organizer. "We just want to help the city and bring some of our volunteers to help."
Solomon said the idea behind planting the new flowers is to attract birds, squirrels, butterflies and other wildlife to the area.
"They have a lot of after-school activities there with kids," he said.
The city is working toward an eco-minded approach to gardening, including the minimal use of chemicals and pesticides, said Nicole Cangelosi, Recreation and Parks Department spokeswoman.
Building on a commitment to Earth-friendly practices, staff members are removing all areas of lawn and planting native plants that will help offer a refuge for wildlife where they can thrive in an urban area.
Cangelosi said the results would provide a space to educate residents about the importance of creating places for wildlife, as well as where residents can retreat to a green space in their community.
The volunteers will be planting 300 new native plants, which will help to provide food and water sources, places for cover and areas where wildlife can raise their offspring.
"Those are the criteria that the National Wildlife Federation requires to make an area a Certified Wildlife Habitat," said Vicki Robertson, Art Center spokeswoman.
She said all city employees have annual goals and the habitat was one of hers.
"Hopefully the habitat will also be educational for the kids here as well as good for the environment," she said.
"They are digging up the entire perimeter of the facility and planting all new plants to attract wildlife," said Gary Solomon, Sand Sifters organizer. "We just want to help the city and bring some of our volunteers to help."
Solomon said the idea behind planting the new flowers is to attract birds, squirrels, butterflies and other wildlife to the area.
"They have a lot of after-school activities there with kids," he said.
Building on a commitment to Earth-friendly practices, staff members are removing all areas of lawn and planting native plants that will help offer a refuge for wildlife where they can thrive in an urban area.
Cangelosi said the results would provide a space to educate residents about the importance of creating places for wildlife, as well as where residents can retreat to a green space in their community.
The volunteers will be planting 300 new native plants, which will help to provide food and water sources, places for cover and areas where wildlife can raise their offspring.
"Those are the criteria that the National Wildlife Federation requires to make an area a Certified Wildlife Habitat," said Vicki Robertson, Art Center spokeswoman.
She said all city employees have annual goals and the habitat was one of hers.
"Hopefully the habitat will also be educational for the kids here as well as good for the environment," she said.
SAND SIFTERS ADOPT ANOTHER PARK
South Florida Parenting Magazine:
KIDS CROWN AWARDS 2008
BEST PLACE TO VOLUNTEER WITH YOUR KIDS
SAND SIFTERS: BEACH CLEAN UP
July 2008
On the first Saturday of each month from 8 to 10:30 a.m., this enthusiastic volunteer organization meets at one of three local "adopted" beaches and scours the shores for litter. Just check the Web site schedule or call to discover where the group will be meeting. Sand Sifters will provide free parking, garbage bags, gloves, litter grabbers and T-shirts. Groups from businesses, schools and churches also are encouraged to participate. Community-service hours are available, as well as educational tours on subjects such as sea turtle nesting.
For more information pertiaining to the Kids Crown Awards or South Florida Parenting Magazine Click Here.
"All American Cleanup" a success!
July 7, 2008
By R.A. Halasz- Sand Sifter Core Memeber
Saturday July 5th was the Sand Sifters 1st annual "All American Cleanup". Sponsored by Tom's of Maine and the city of Boynton Beach the event was very successful. Many volunteer showed up to help cleanup Oceanfront Park and the surrounding beach areas. Free samples from Tom's of Maine were giving out as well as free t-shirts. Michael Halasz a core member grilled the all American hotdog for our hungry volunteers as well. Also thanks to WPBF news station the Sand Sifters were given live shots several times throughtout the morning to help promote their event and encourage people to come down and help clean the beach.
Also at the event were volunteers from Unforgotten Soldier. They were collecting donations for their cause to send over to our troops. Sand Sifters feel it is important to give back to the community not just by cleaning it up but by putting forth the effort to stimulate the whole community to work together.
Hopefully these events will keep growing and the Sand Sifters will attract new volunteers along with their loyal and committed volunteers that have been part of this important endevor from the start. Sand Sifters would like to thank all that have particpated and hope to have the continued success due to caring volunteers.
Group hits beaches to clean up after July 4
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
If you're lucky, on the night of the Fourth of July you can watch a clear, starry sky fill with a colorful array of fireworks over the shimmering ocean waters.But what about the next morning? "It's kind of a nightmare," said Kirt Rusenko, a marine conservationist with the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex in Boca Raton. "It's a mess."
Local beaches are littered with washed up rockets, beer bottles and other leftovers from revelers. That's why Sand Sifters, a Boynton Beach-based volunteer group, has organized the first "All-American Cleanup" during the days following July 4 at beaches across Palm Beach County. "The dirt washes from one beach to another, so we're trying to cover the whole county," said Gary Solomon, organizer and founder of Sand Sifters.
But the litter is only the beginning of the problems caused by the festivities. It's almost impossible to find a new sea turtle nest the morning after, even though it's during the height of the nesting season. "The hatchlings get disoriented from the fireworks being set off," Rusenko said. He said there are a number of "false crawls," meaning that the turtles come out on the beach, but are then scared back into the water.
The turtles instinctively go toward light, which can lead to a very dangerous situation when bonfires are lighted on the beach. Rusenko said that he has a photograph of 300 hatchlings that burned in a bonfire on Ascension Island.
Other marine animals and birds are also in danger if they eat the plastic from leftover fireworks fins. Solomon said that even beachgoers aren't immune to the problems left behind."Some kids pick up fireworks that haven't exploded yet," he said.
The first cleanups are scheduled for Saturday at Oceanfront Park in Boynton Beach from 8 to 10:30 a.m. and Ocean Cay Park in Jupiter from 8 to 10 a.m.
The cleanups will continue on July 12 - in order to collect debris and trash that was delayed in washing on shore - at Spanish River Park in Boca Raton and Winding Water Natural Area in West Palm Beach. Both cleanups, which are scheduled from 8 to 11 a.m., require pre-registration. To register for the cleanup at Spanish River Park, contact Susan Elliot at Gumbo Limbo at (561) 338-1542. For the Winding Water cleanup, call (561) 233-2426.
Although special attention is needed after July 4, Solomon said he hopes that volunteers return for the regular monthly cleanups the group organizes."We just want to keep things clean year-round and make life better for everyone," he said.
