Number of Participants: 25
Hours Donated: 4
Value of Time Served: $845
Event Type: Environment
Sport: Lacrosse
Date: October 27, 2017
Location:
Lake Ronkonkoma
NY, United States
About:
When Evelyn Vollgraff invited News 12 reporter Danielle Campbell to do a story on the closing of a local bookstore, the two area residents observed the litter strewn around Lake Ronkonkoma. They resolved to spearhead the lakefront area’s cleanup. And now they have a group with 1,400 Facebook followers dedicated to the effort.
On Friday, they received an overwhelming show of support from the NYIT men’s lacrosse team.
Led by coach Bill Dunn, the Bears spent the morning picking up litter and clearing overgrown brush to try to restore the lakefront area to its once pristine state.
“It’s phenomenal,” said Vollgraff, the preservation group’s president. “A lot of our members are between 40 and 80 [years old]. So sometimes doing that heavier work is hard for us. And sometimes we don’t get enough guys because they work.”
Said Dunn: “I had seen their story on News 12. After that I read about it in the local paper. I came down here to walk the lake, and I saw everything that was going on. I said, ‘This would be a great idea for our guys to help out.'”
