Local high school student volunteers participate in Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup

Keweenaw Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council (YAC) members and local high school student volunteers display the bags of trash they collected during the Sept. 21, 2013, Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup along the Keweenaw Waterway (Portage Canal) near Michigan Tech University. (Photos © and courtesy Joan Chadde)

HOUGHTON -- Fourteen Keweenaw Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council (YAC) members and high school student volunteers from Houghton, Dollar Bay and Calumet High Schools participated in the Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. The students removed seven bags of trash between Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center and Prince's Point along the City of Houghton's public walking/riding trail.

Students who participated were Elise Cheney, Vladi Kotov, Rylie Store, Brooke Basto, Emily Linn, Ingrid Flaspohler, Ryne Hocking, Kyle Archambeau, Kyra Neufeld, Chance Sche, Emma Brown, Ben Lilleskov, Joe Dobbs, Nick Vlahos, and Dan Gershenson.

Youth Advisory Council student volunteers sort trash during the Sept. 21 Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup.

The Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup, also called Adopt-a-Beach, is coordinated through the Alliance for the Great Lakes. Volunteers throughout the Great Lakes Basin in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois collect the trash and sort it into specified categories such as fast food wrappers, beverage cans, bottles, clothing, etc., and submit the data to a regional database.*

This year's collection yielded far fewer cigarette butts than in past years -- an encouraging sign!

YAC is comprised of Houghton County students in grades 8-12. The purpose of YAC is to strengthen the leadership and charitable commitment of youth by providing opportunities for them to develop solutions to serious problems. YAC has three goals: to engage youth in philanthropy, address the needs of local youth in Houghton and Keweenaw counties, and engage in community service.

Any student in the Copper Country in grades 8-12 can participate in YAC by contacting one of the YAC facilitators: Lois Jambekar at 482-8342 or loisjambekar@chartermi.net or Joan Chadde at 487-3341 or jchadde@mtu.edu.

Contributions to the Youth Advisory Council are welcomed.**

* Click here to learn more about the Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup.

** Click here to learn more about the Keweenaw Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council.