East JROTC storms beach for annual coastal clean-up project
On a warm and sunny Saturday, 75 volunteers from Cranston East participated in the Save the Bay clean up event, as they have done for the past nine years.
In addition to the 68 cadets, the seven chaperones were Cranston East JROTC instructors SGM (R) Gerald Thifault and LTC (R) John Murray. They were accompanied by other East faculty members, Mr. Howard Chun, Ms. Deborah Truchon and Ms. Ann Walkup all from the science department. Representing the math department was Ms. Amanda Smith. From the parental contingency was Ms. Karpinski, mother of senior cadet Joe Bellotti.
As a freshman, and participating in her first clean up, Cadet Private Zulma Urizar was unprepared for the mess they encountered.
“Each year Save the Bay hosts international cleanup day. Our goal is to clean, protect and promote marine wild life safety. As a freshman, and this being my time participating in this project, I was unaware of the amount of pollution that litters our state beaches. The most frequently picked-up items included cigarette butts, broken glass bottle pieces and Styrofoam,” she said.
She also took away valuable lessons.
“From this event I learned how to cooperate with others and lead a group in an efficient manner. I look forward to participating in this event which helps the environment throughout the rest of my high school years,” she said.
Senior Cadet Captain, who is the company commander for Bravo company, Joseph Bellotti had a different perspective, after doing this project in the past.
“I was in charge of supervising my company while they were picking up trash. I can describe my experience I felt like I was being pushed out of my comfort zone because I had to be aware of the situation at hand and control 40 people. I had to make sure that everyone was picking up trash and doing the right thing clean up the bay. I felt like I made a difference by doing this,” he said.
