Paddle With A Purpose (October 2020)

Issue Four- October 2020:

By Mercedes Barreto

Mission Statement

“Activating people in positive action to restore our waterways.”

The mission of Paddle with a Purpose is to engage people from all walks of life to volunteer in the conservation and cleanup of our waterways and to spread awareness about the pollution problem in our communities.

We aim to activate the world in excitement to protect our most precious natural resource: water.

Our goal is to get everyone involved, from companies to tourists and most importantly, members
of the local community.

We focus on the positive actions that can be done to reverse damage to our environment and
create a fun, team-oriented atmosphere.

By focusing on our accomplishments we empower
individuals to care for their local natural areas and spread awareness of what can be done.

No action is too small, no trash too little, and no amount of time too short. Cleanups help us to remember that you can (and should) have fun while saving the planet.

It’s a powerful beginning that instills a deeper love for our beautiful planet!

What kinds of reactions are received when you mention your organization’s mission and cause, not to mention the efforts involved?

“We receive tons of positive feedback!

People are really excited about our mission and want to get involved. I have been so impressed with the dedication the volunteers have for this cause. It has been truly inspiring.

Everyone we connect with understands the severity of this issue and almost all want to participate by joining our next event or connecting with us to support us financially or in any way possible! We see many people follow us on Instagram and Facebook to be part of the journey and stay informed of upcoming events.”

How did this mission and organization get its roots, and become involved in its community?

“With the help of the City of Ft. Lauderdale and neighbors in the community, I founded Paddle with a purpose in 2017 after moving to Fort Lauderdale. Although I created the idea of Paddle with a Purpose, the success must be credited to all the amazing leaders that have contributed every step along the way.

Without the help of passionate and reliable core team members,

we would not be where we are today!

Have there been challenges, monetary, geographic, or even social, when it came to the commencement and launching of the organization, and its acceptance?

“From early on, we had amazing volunteers that have donated kayaks, their launch docks, their vehicles, and their resources.

This has been a community effort from the beginning and so many people have taken ownership of this cause.

Financially, we are still developing and we have financial targets that we would like to meet.

Hopefully, with the help of donors in the community and by hosting company-sponsored cleanups, we will be able to meet our goals.

The biggest hurdle that we have been facing recently is the current pandemic environment that prevents group activities. We hold our event entirely outdoors and we strongly encourage the use of masks. We have slowly begun to hold our events again in line with government recommendations.”

Where do you see your mission and efforts in a time span of, supposedly, a few years or so?

“Our mission is to expand on a national and global scale. We aim to have core leaders in most major cities, hosting not only monthly cleanups but sponsored company cleanups with small and large companies in the community.

As we grow, we aim to have paid coordinators in many regions to further our impact beyond cleanups, onto our other pillars of education and activism.

We aim to form many relationships with local vendors for supplying equipment, city governments, and organizations within the community to spread awareness and action on pollution in our waterways.”

Bio of ‘Paddle with a Purpose’

Paddle with a Purpose started with Robert Figueroa and his desire to remove trash from our waterways. The initial objective was to collect a single ton of trash. We surpassed that goal by removing over four tons of trash out of the Fort Lauderdale / Broward County waterways within our first year.

To date, we have collected over 14,000 lbs of trash from or near waterways between Key West, South, and Central Florida and have had hundreds of volunteers participate. It’s our goal to expand this project to a national and global level.

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