Our Reusable Bags 4 Youth Program is starting up again for the 2016-2017 school year. Elementary school students spend time researching and learning about the dangers of plastic pollution in our waterways and then we provide them with the tool to help them and their families Rise Above Plastics with a reusable shopping bag provided by Surfrider Foundation, Virginia Beach Chapter. So far, teachers from almost 30 Virginia Beach schools have requested to be a part of this program. The overwhelmingly positive response means we need your help!
- We need volunteers to help with bag distribution. Bags will be distributed throughout the rest of the school year starting in January. With 30 schools on the list, we will need your time to help us get the bags and markers to where they need to go.
- We need volunteers who are comfortable with not just public speaking, but speaking to 1st - 4th graders, from 20 kids to 120 kids. Almost 60 teachers have requested that a Surfrider volunteer speak to their classes about our Chapter, plastic pollution and how they can help. We will provide training and a powerpoint to use, but we need your speaking skills. A background check will be required of those who will be working directly with children.
- We need funding! Our Chapter has committed to purchasing 3000 reusable shopping bags for this program. At the rate we are receiving applications for participation, we expect to need many more than that to fulfill all requests. We will also need to purchase fabric markers for the kids to decorate their bags. You can donate on our Square store page: https://squareup.com/store/surfrider-vb-chapter.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Christina at reusablebags4youth@vb.surfrider.org.