New Hyde Park Memorial High School freshmen Kathleen Gray and Saba Gulzar won a Notable award for their submission to the 2017 Marine Debris Creative Advocacy Competition, sponsored by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs (Bow Seat).
The competition challenged middle and high school students from across the country to design and implement a campaign that educates the public about marine debris and inspires action. Kathleen and Saba, who entered the competition as members of New Hyde “Park Cleanup,” received a $100 total award for their campaign, titled “Saving the Earth One Bottle at a Time.” This campaign aimed to clean their local parks and fund experiments beneficial to the environment by raising money through a fundraiser.
The girls were able to raise $800, which went to projects in their school’s Science Research program, the costs of the fundraiser itself and the materials needed for park cleanup. They also picked up a few 48-gallon bags of trash from their neighborhood parks.
“I never realized how much trash we were capable of polluting our neighborhood with until I actually attempted to clean it up. I hope that others also realize this and help us continue to keep our parks clean,” Saba said.
