Florida is known for its beautiful scenery—and Tampa Bay is no exception. However, trash nestled its way into the hidden mangroves along the shore of Harbour Island, becoming an eyesore to residents near the shore and harmful to aquatic life.

To alleviate this situation, the World Mission Society Church of God teamed up with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful to clean up the shore. More than 40 volunteers worked together to collect more two tons of trash and debris.

When the volunteers started cleaning, residents of the area took notice and decided to join the effort too. All the volunteers celebrated the great victory of collecting so much trash and restoring the environment to the way it should be: clean. And they were proud to contribute to the Church of God’s continued international and national environmental protection efforts.

“I want to say, from the bottom of my heart. there’s no way this cleanup could have been possible without you all,” said Harbour Island Place resident Eric Hamilton. “Every one of your hands, muscles, hearts, and kind thoughts to be here far exceeded my expectations.”

This cleanup marked the church’s 3,560th worldwide cleanup. On the same day, the Church of God also held cleanups in Durham, North Carolina; Rutherford, New Jersey; Hampton, New Hampshire; and Millvale, Pennsylvania.

“We’re always trying to find out the needs in the community” said Jennifer, a Church of God volunteer. “Through this cleanup we really wanted to show love to our neighbors and we’re very thankful to work with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and the residents here at Harbour Island.”

Not only the Church of God in Tampa, but all the churches around the world, want to continue serving its community to bring about positive results in the environment and also in people’s hearts.