Putting litter in its place! Beach Heroes OC!
A Snowball effect
About eighteen months ago I wrote an article on the tremendous growth of this small start up organization called Beach Heroes-OC and its positive impacts on all of Ocean City. The time of this first report was March of 2024 and, they had a strong showing on a cold, windy day in Ocean City. All volunteers were wearing winter clothing that day. At that time, their winter volunteer numbers were averaging twenty five to thirty five people and their summer seasonal numbers were averaging fifty to sixty people. These were impressive numbers.
But nothing compared to their current volunteer explosion! According to Colleen DeGroot, one of six Beach Heroes OC’s administrators, their off season volunteers have jumped thirty to forty percent, and this 2025 summer, their volunteer numbers have been averaging between eighty and one-hundred people!
On this sunny, but hot and humid Tuesday morning in late July (July 29th), Beach Heroes OC had a record attendance at 119 volunteers! Colleen added that there were thirty two new members for this Tuesday clean up and new volunteers come each week. Today’s attendance broke a recent Tuesday attendance of 115 people.
The Organization and its Volunteers
Starting in 2016, this group of volunteers started out as a small group that has evolved into an efficient, cleaning machine. They meet every Tuesday morning, year-round, to clean a section of Ocean City. From its simple beginnings, known as Clean Beach OC, the organization was eventually renamed Beach Heroes OC. The volunteer pool keeps growing, as community awareness increases. The Beach Heroes OC’s administrators are:
Gayle Myrta, Cindy Hudson, Lee Myers, Amy Senft, Leslie Eisenhauer, and Colleen DeGroot.
Beach Heroes OC continues its original purpose as, “Our Misson is to support Ocean City’s litter free campaign by meeting weekly to collect debris, and to dispose of it responsibly. We strive to be good stewards of our coast community, building community relationships, and be a model of volunteerism, so that future generations can continue such stewardship and enjoy the benefits of coastal living.”
Beach Heroes OC volunteers consist of a range of people and ages. Most of its volunteers are area residents who have relocated from elsewhere to live and enjoy the Ocean City coastal area. Others are tourists coming from other parts of Maryland and Delaware and beyond; who just appreciate volunteering for a good cause for an area they have come to love.
For today’s clean up there were two other organizations helping out: Calleva Group and Shore Good 4H from Salisbury. Calleva is involved in outdoor education and adventure programs that promote personal growth and community/ healthy lifestyle.
According to Administrator Colleen, “Our biggest accomplishment is bringing awareness to the litter issue and having so many people that care about the environment to join us.” She adds,” our biggest challenge is finding adequate parking for our growing team. Local businesses have been very kink to let us use their lots when they are closed.”
Typical clean-up day
So, what’s a typical day for a Beach Heroes OC volunteer? It starts with the weekly clean-up gathering on a Tuesday at 9am. However, some volunteers will arrive earlier to start their assigned tasks. The group convenes at a designated location where trash bags, litter grabbers, and gloves are distributed. After an hour of cleaning, the full group meets at the original starting point to review the total volume or weight of trash collected that day, for fellowship, and to take a group picture that is shared with its many Face Book followers.
Volunteers will cover a five or six street area of Ocean City each week. Some will clean the beach while other volunteers will clean the interior blocks and bayside area. The size of the area to be cleaned is dependent on the number of volunteers that show up. The group generally avoids the parking fee areas in the Town that operate during the summer months but gets to these areas in the off-season months. Tuesdays have been selected because it is easier for the volunteers to find a place to park than on weekends. Plus, after weekends there tends to be a greater volume of trash that accumulates, which coincides with more people being in Ocean City and thus more litter. As Leslie Eisenhauer, one of its administrators, states, “While we know the Town does a great job of cleaning, we are the extra set of “boots on the ground” working in the bushes, parking lots, dunes, and marshes picking up the trash out and preventing it from getting into the bay and ocean.”
During the summer season, volunteers will often collet the ever-increasing amount of single use plastic bags, cups, and straws in addition to bottles, diapers, and paper products. For the off-season months, when construction is more prevalent in the resort, volunteers will often collect construction debris.
These committed volunteers will arrive in nice weather, middling weather, and even in poor weather to clean the beach and streets of Ocean City. The administrators will only cancel a clean-up event if the weather is going to be very wet, snowing, or other extreme conditions.
Clean up awards
To show its appreciation of its volunteers, Beach Heroes OC awards its regular volunteers with three levels of gifts. If a volunteer works five days the participant will receive a blue T-shirt with the group’s emblem. Volunteers that work fifteen days will receive a blue long sleeve T-shirt. If one volunteers twenty-five times, they will get a blue hooded sweat shirt. These volunteer days do not have to be consecutive, but only cumulative. A specific volunteer is charged with tracking these volunteer days. Not only does Beach Heroes provide these gifts to recognize their regular volunteers’ efforts, but as Leslie stated last year, “it also creates a sense of belonging and draws attention to the litter issue in OC when our ‘sea of blue’ is along the streets on Tuesday mornings.”
End of year stats for 2024 cleanup activity:
- Volunteer hours worked of 2,967.
- 3,346 bags of trash
- 267 blocks cleaned
- 23 parking lots cleaned
- 254 shirts awarded
All of these numbers are much higher than their impressive 2023 stats.
Partners and Sponsors
Beach Heroes OC continues to work with the Town of Ocean City and receives some of its supplies, like liter grabbers and large trash bags, from the Town.
The group continues to partner with other community groups in multi group cleaning efforts on and off the island. These groups include the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Assateague Coastal Trust, Ocean City Surf Rider Foundation, and Ocean City Surf Club. Beach Heroes OC has received a proclamation for its cleanup efforts from the Town of Ocean City and Volunteer of the Year award from the OC Surf Club.
According to Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, “Keeping Ocean City clean is a responsibility we all share, and the Beach Heroes-OC clean-ups play an important role in that effort. These dedicated volunteers are making a lasting impact by protecting our environment and preserving the beauty of Ocean City for everyone to enjoy. I look forward to joining them again at another clean-up.”
Beach Heroes OC also gets assistance in many ways from a number of local and area businesses. This number has doubled since March 2024. These include K-Coast Surf Shop, Shotti’s Point restaurant, The Wave Riding School, Malibu’s Surf Shop, Spicer Bros. Construction, and Royal Plus CAT, Royal Plus Electric, Quiet Storm Surf Shop, Dough Roller Restaurants, Baja Amusements, The Mortgage Link, Captain Joe’s Charters, and the Town of Ocean City.
Colleen Degroot says, “The businesses have been so supportive of our efforts by donating trash bags and allowing us to park in their lots, to sponsoring our blue T-shirts and hoodies for our volunteers.”
Comments from Beach Heroes OC volunteers:
Greg and Doreen Redmen stated they have volunteered at least twenty five times. They are Ocean City residents. According to Greg as to why they volunteer, “God has helped us and we would like to help others.” Doreen added, “There is a community spirit for this event and it continues to grow. Friends from our church (Community Church in Berlin) volunteer, too, and there’s such a feeling of comradery.”
Angela Pfeiffer was volunteering with her two young daughters. Angela, from Frederick, Maryland, stated that this was their first time volunteering for this event. She added,” We are volunteering for the Girl Scouts Love the Outdoor Challenge and this is one of the community activities that are doing great things.”
Jim and Barb Harvey are from West Ocean City and have volunteered about fifty times for Beach Heroes OC. Barb added that they are out as often as then can but usually weekly. Jim stated, “This is a great thing to do. We are retired and get lots of gratitude doing this volunteer work.” Barb added, “It’s great having people drive by while we are cleaning and hear the drivers say, “Thank You.” It makes us feel good. This is a nice community event and we get to meet many people.”
Robin and Richard Boord have volunteered numerous times since May 2024. The Boords live in West Ocean City. Robin states,” We love to give back to the town that means so much to us. This is where we live and we want others to see how beautiful our town is.”
OCMD Santa states, “I love doing something that directly benefits my community.” You have now heard it from Santa kids, so you better pay attention to stay on his nice list!!
Upcoming Cleanup Dates and locations to meet in August
Regular Tuesday Cleanups from 9-10 am:
August 5 1st Street (bayside of DeLazy Lizard lot)
August 12 Convention Center Dr. (Bayside of OCCC south lot)
August 19 123rd Street (Bayside – Dumsers Dairyland lot
August 26 144th Street (Bayside – St. Andrews Parish Center lot)
Looking to volunteer?
The best way to learn more about the Beach Heroes OC clean-up efforts is to follow them on Facebook. Each month Beach Heroes will post its cleaning schedule including the location, date and time to meet. There is no need to let them know of your interest in volunteering ahead of time. Just show up, meet the group, and start cleaning with them!! You can start earning your volunteer time to get a blue T-shirt, blue long sleeve T-shirt or hooded sweatshirt and make that Sea of Blue a tidal wave of civic pride!!
