TALLAHASSEE, FLA.—Florida volunteer organizations and beach lovers across the state participated in the Great VISIT FLORIDA Beach Walk this past Saturday, November 6. More than 2,000 individuals and teams participated across Florida’s 34 beach counties and 825 miles of beaches. The beach walkers photographed, video recorded and Tweeted virtually every mile of Florida’s coastline, six months after the oil spill.
The statewide Beach Walk and photo fest was done to show the world that Florida’s 825 miles of beaches are as clean as ever, in photos uploaded in real time to the Internet by volunteers who walked or paddled and shot photos all along the Sunshine State beaches.
The collective online photo gallery is viewable by clicking here. Viewers can vote on their favorite of the 825 beach miles and be entered into a sweepstakes for their own Florida beach trip with the chance to win a Mazda Miata and $5,000 gift card. There is also an interactive map displaying the photos taken that morning along each of the 825 beach miles.
Volunteers Represented Many Organizations
“It’s a very eclectic group of volunteers,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of Volunteer Florida, which worked with VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s tourism marketing organization, to create the Beach Walk. These individuals include scout troops, surfers, service organizations, tourism businesses, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Keep Florida Beautiful volunteers, kayakers, firefighters, and wildlife conservation organizations.
Special events happening across the state included:
• A beachfront pig roast in St. Pete Beach.
• Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival participants shooting beach photos from their kayaks and canoes.
• Free kites flown by Beach Walkers in Levy County.
• Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic surfers and spectators shooting photos in Flagler.
• St. Augustine Attractions Association sending 16th Century Spanish soldiers to join the Beach Walk.
• Grand prizes given in drawings to Beach Walkers in Daytona.
• A seaside wedding in Santa Rosa Beach.
• Elementary school walkers in Escambia County.
• The Florida Seafood Festival in Apalachicola with seafood lovers as participants.
• Sand-sculpting lessons in Sarasota.
• Scores of beachfront hotels and restaurants serving as volunteer hubs.
“Floridians are passionate about our beaches and we all have a favorite mile or two,” said Will Seccombe, VISIT FLORIDA chief marketing officer. “This is a great opportunity for all of us to enjoy what we love about Florida and support our state’s economy at the same time. By sharing thousands of photos of Florida’s 825 miles of beaches, we will put to rest any lingering concerns from this summer’s oil spill.”
