Dunkirk-Fredonia Rotary Club members gathered over the weekend for their second annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup at Point Gratiot in Dunkirk. More than 50 volunteers gathered from 9 to 11 a.m. that morning, avoiding the anticipated rain, to ensure that the beach was as clean as possible.

Volunteers came from several different groups, including local students, Cub Scouts, Rotarians, Dunkirk Civil Air Patrol, Fredonia High School National Honor Society, and other community members.

The event was coordinated by Rotarians Lisa Fortna and Sheila Starkey Hahn, while Christina Jarvis of the State University of New York at Fredonia spoke about the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and the benefits of ridding the beach of microplastics and other litter, as well as the important of logging the types and amounts of trash collected.

Altogether, more than 100 pounds of trash was picked up and the cleanup information was entered into an online database, which assists the Alliance for the Great Lakes in learning more about pollution and helps them find potential solutions to pollution problems.