ST INS CARES-Keep Lee County Beautiful-Local Cleanups Work

You’ve seen it on a walk: a bottle in the sand, a scrap of plastic by the dune line, fishing line tangled where it shouldn’t be. The part most people don’t see is how fast that “small” litter becomes a waterways problem, and how much coordination it takes to reverse it across a county the size of Lee County.

We’re joined by Tisha Bayne, Communications and Special Events Manager at Keep Lee County Beautiful, a volunteer-based environmental nonprofit serving the community for decades. We talk about the real numbers behind beach cleanup and community cleanup work: thousands of volunteers each year, 200+ cleanups, more than 50,000 pounds of trash removed, and ongoing tree planting and native canopy restoration. You’ll also hear how their education outreach ties litter prevention and recycling to everyday behavior, especially in a high-tourism destination like Fort Myers Beach.

We walk through their signature events and what they’re designed to solve, from New Year’s Day and Earth Day cleanups to the International Coastal Cleanup and Monofilament Madness, where boaters and kayakers remove discarded fishing line and marine debris from mangrove areas in Estero Bay. We also get honest about the biggest operational challenge on the island right now: parking and beach access for large volunteer groups, plus disposal logistics that require strong town support and local business partners.

If you’ve been looking for volunteer opportunities in Lee County or a practical way to support environmental stewardship, this conversation gives you a clear starting point and one simple daily habit that makes a difference. Subscribe for more local nonprofit stories, share this with a friend who loves the beach, and leave a review with one action you’ll take this week to keep your corner of Lee County beautiful.

Keep Lee County Beautiful
Tisha Bayne
PO Box 9244, Fort Myers, FL  33902-9244
(239) 334-3488
tisha@klcb.org
klcb.org

State Insurance USA
4450 Camino Real Way Ft Myers, FL 33966 
239-567-9992

100 Lovers Ln 3rd Floor Ft Myers Beach, FL 33931
(239) 690-6300

office@StateInsuranceUSA.com
stateinsuranceusa.com
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Transcript

Welcome And Community Mission

Intro/Close 0:00

Welcome to State Insurance USA Cares Podcast, where we celebrate the heart of our communities. Each episode, we highlight local charities and nonprofits who are bringing hope, health, and healing to those who need it most. Get ready to be inspired by the amazing stories of people making a difference. Because together we care.

Tisha Bayne 0:27

Thank you.

"Cabo" Jim 0:29

Yeah, pleasure to have you on the show and share what you do to Keep Lee County Beautiful, right?

Tisha Bayne 0:35

Yes, exactly. Well, um, as you said, my name is Tisha. I've been with Keep lee County Beautiful going on eight years now. I'm the communications and special events manager. And our organization, we have been around uh serving Lee County for 37 years. Um, we're the largest volunteer-based community action and education organization here in Lee County. Um, our mission is to inspire, educate, and engage the community in environmental stewardship. Um, we have lots of ways that you can get involved um uh working with us and making a difference in the community.

"Cabo" Jim 1:21

Um so so what types of things, how do you guys so what does keep Lee County beautiful? Let's explain for listeners that don't know and aren't so aware of what you guys do. What type of things are you doing in the community?

Tisha Bayne 1:34

Yeah, well, we work with we're volunteer based. So we work with three to four thousand volunteers every year.

"Cabo" Jim 1:42

Okay.

Cleanups Trees And Education Programs

Tisha Bayne 1:43

We organize over 200 community cleanups each year. And we plant, we also plant hundreds of trees and shrubs as we're you know trying to re-establish our native canopies. But through these cleanups, um, our volunteers remove over 50,000 pounds of trash and debris from the environment each year. And education is a big part of our mission as well. So we are out there in the community at events speaking with over 25,000 individuals each year about the importance of protecting our local environment. Um we have a lot of different programs. So one way that someone can get involved with us is our adoption programs. So any individual or group can adopt a shoreline on Fort Myers Beach or a road or a park, something like that. And then they they commit to doing at least four cleanups a year, and we provide all of the supplies to the volunteers to all of our adoption groups. That's what we do. We organize events, we provide all the supplies, and then every year we have certain annual cleanups. So on New Year's Day, we're on Fort Myers Beach cleanup. And then in the spring is our great American cleanup. That's what we're taking that's taking place right now. Yeah, um, and this year it's the greatest American cleanup because it's America's 250th anniversary. So we've been holding cleanups all through March across the county. Um, we have a bunch of cleanups still going on all through April, including Fort Myers Beach, and these will go into May. And um, we also in April, it's Earth Month, so it's a busy month for us. We have our Earth Day cleanup on the 22nd. We also host our Global Youth Service Day event. So it's our community-wide. We cover Fort Myers Beach, we cover all of Lee County. Lee County is 1,212 square miles. It's a big area, it is, but then we get through Great American cleanup. Um, then we're back on Fort Myers Beach, specific for the 5th of July cleanup. So we need to do that after all the 4th of July.

"Cabo" Jim 4:17

I'm seeing a big correlation between big events and cleanups, right? Yes, yes, exactly.

Big Annual Events Across The County

Tisha Bayne 4:22

And then in the September, we have our international coastal cleanup. So that's another community-wide event where we will have you know thousands of volunteers at multiple locations all across the county. And then finally, um, then at the end of October, we're gonna have our monofilament madness, which is our marine cleanup. So that one will have kayakers and boaters that are out there in the Estero Bay, and they're removing, you know, the discarded fishing line and any trash and debris from the mangrove areas. So um we for that, I know we always launch out of Salty Sam's Marina. There's gonna be another marina location this year. Um, in the past, we've also had kayakers launch from the moundhouse. Okay. Yeah, so that's um coming up. We're finalizing all those details. That's a big one that we push um on Fort Myers Beach. We always need more boaters to get involved for that event. That's a big one for us.

"Cabo" Jim 5:31

So, so it sounds like you know, caring for the coastal community and our shorelines and everything, you know, there's a lot that goes into that, but uh it comes with certain challenges, right? What's been one of the biggest hurdles for you as an organization in doing that?

Parking Access And Disposal Challenges

Tisha Bayne 5:46

The biggest challenge that we've been facing is parking um and getting access um to like the beach specifically. So, because we coordinate these events, we can have a hundred volunteers show up. Um, and we need to secure parking, we need to secure a location of properly disposing the trash, whether we bring in a dumpster or the town always helps us as well, the town staff. So that's the biggest challenge is parking right now on the island. Um and obviously I know that you know Lynn Hall's closed right now, which kind of affects all the other parking lots on the island, but that's the biggest challenge. If you know, we would love to work um with more local businesses about that. Now, Norm Speech Parking has been a great partner, always supports our volunteers, and then the town, as I said, has been great. Their staff helps us, you know, get everything cleaned up. But if there would be more local businesses who would um just help with parking, being willing to let our volunteers park there for a couple hours on a Saturday morning and access the beach so they could do more, that would be that's the biggest challenge.

"Cabo" Jim 7:08

And then you also you also mentioned the ability for local businesses on the beach or close to the beach to sponsor a certain stretch, kind of like you see on the highways, right? You know, protect, you know, let's let's uh this section of land is sponsored by so and so and they're responsible for keeping it clean.

Tisha Bayne 7:24

So yes, yep. We have a yeah, we have multiple adoption groups, you know, that have different sections of the beach. Um, the pink shell, they're one of our adoption groups, so you know they go out and they keep their section right by you know their location um clean for everyone who wants to come visit.

"Cabo" Jim 7:42

Yeah, I love that. So is there a cleanup project or story that really kind of captures what you do and you know the real meaning and joy behind what you do? Oh gosh. I put you on the spot.

Tisha Bayne 7:56

I know you did put me on the spot on that one.

"Cabo" Jim 8:00

Well, what's one of the proudest things that you've done as far as an organization that you you like to brag about?

Tisha Bayne 8:06

Yeah, I think what we can brag about is the amazing volunteers. I mean, there are this these volunteers that come out year after year after year. They always come out, they always show up, and we couldn't do our work without the amazing volunteers. And then, you know, we're so proud of that. And then we're proud of, you know, we have some really long-standing relationships in the community, you know, with the town, um, and others like on the island, the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation. They've been a partner of ours since the very beginning. And you know, we've been around for over 35 years. We've been doing this.

Volunteers Partners And Proud Moments

"Cabo" Jim 8:52

That is great. That is great. So, I mean, environmental trends. Are you seeing something locally now that you know maybe people should be paying a little bit more attention to?

Tisha Bayne 9:04

Well, I think there's always trends that come and go. The biggest challenge, I think, is um getting people to change their behavior.

unknown 9:16

Yeah.

Tisha Bayne 9:16

Um, is the biggest challenge. Um, you always find the most amount of trash right by a garbage can.

"Cabo" Jim 9:26

I have the right idea, but they just can't get it quite in.

Tisha Bayne 9:29

You know, something like that. Um, so it's just changing the behavior. A big part of our mission is education, and so that's what we are always trying to do. You know, we want to, and with Fort Myers Beach, you know, with the population, the the tourism, you know, the draw to the beautiful beach, you know, sadly it does bring litter.

"Cabo" Jim 9:50

Yeah.

Tisha Bayne 9:51

And so, you know, we focus on litter prevention and recycling and um just in our cleanups. And the more that we're able to access the beach and organize more events, then that gives us more opportunities to educate about protecting and preserving the environment and the importance of it.

"Cabo" Jim 10:16

And you've got you've kind of got what we call like the perfect storm for lack of better words, but um, you know, with the waterways, the wildlife, the tourism, you know, and then the storm recovery on top of it. So you have all of this excess, I don't say material or garbage, as you might say, that that is out there that's affecting the environment one way or the other. So it's not just picking up a plastic bottle, it's there's other things out there as well that we need to pay attention to, right?

Tisha Bayne 10:43

Right, exactly. And you know, we did obviously were involved with the mass cleanups that we had, you know, after those the awful storms, you know, that our community went through. And then we have been able to now um focus on, you know, the planting the trees, like trying to bring reestablish what was lost. And so we're working with that. Um, and you know, and we talked to the town, and I know you know, they you know, we're able to plant some more sea oats and things like that. So those type of projects, um, you know, replanting and stuff like by the beach access points and and just trying to get things back, you know, to where they were.

"Cabo" Jim 11:28

Yep. Yeah, it's it's an ongoing project, but one that we continue to work on down here at uh Fort Mary's Beach. So your side of the story, how did you get involved in all this?

Tisha Bayne 11:38

I was a volunteer, so I volunteered and um loved volunteering, and then I found out that they were hiring. Um, it was just a part-time um like admin position at the time. So I took that and then it has it grew into you know much more. So we are a very small staff though. So again, we're volunteer based, so we're a staff of four.

"Cabo" Jim 12:06

Wow.

Tisha Bayne 12:07

Yeah.

"Cabo" Jim 12:08

So you do quite a bit, you do quite a bit around the area because I see.

How To Volunteer And Lead Sites

Tisha Bayne 12:12

And again, we have the amazing volunteers, and a big thing then that we have is you know, myself and my you know counterparts, we can't be everywhere. We will have like for Great American Cleanup, coastal cleanup, we we could have 25 sites clean up at the same time. So we have people who volunteer as site captains, so they run the site, you know, we give them training and supplies, they'll run the site for us. So we couldn't do it without those volunteers, and then um we have an ambassador program. So anyone on, you know, any resident or visitor from Fort Myers Beach, they can volunteer as one of our ambassadors, you know, representing Keepley County Beautiful in the community. On our website, klcb.org, there is a volunteer application form they can fill out if they want to try to get involved that way.

"Cabo" Jim 13:11

Love it, love a lot of ways to get involved. Um, is there one simple action that our our let our listeners or every resident, you know, what on the beach or not on the beach, uh, could could do that would really make a big difference in what you're trying to achieve?

Tisha Bayne 13:27

Well, it's the well, I kind of mentioned it about you know changing the behavior and you know being aware of that. I mean, so our like goal, which would basically put us out of business, would be that there would be no more litter, right?

"Cabo" Jim 13:45

That'd be a good thing, right?

Tisha Bayne 13:47

Yes, it'd be a good thing, and then and you know, there'd be no more trees that need to be planted, everything you know was uh established, but um but that's not how it is right now, and it really is the fact that every single person, every day, you know, your commute to work, you're walking to work, you go for a walk on the beach, you know, everyone can clean up just their own area and you know, change that behavior to not litter, and it really does make a difference where we live, as you know, where we live, everything that's the trash that's on the ground ends up in our waterways. Yep, and that's what we don't want is for it to end up in our waterways.

"Cabo" Jim 14:31

And I've I've done a number of events with you already, and I love what you what you guys do. And one thing I think it's kind of embedded in my mind now is when I walk past something, whether on the beach, whether on the street or something, and I see something on the ground garbage, I go over and pick it up now, you know, where so many people just walk past it, and it takes two seconds to pick it up and throw it in a garbage can or take it to a garbage can. Yeah, you know, it's it's something simple, but you don't think about it until you really go on, okay. Well, if I don't pick it up, who's gonna pick it up? And if they don't pick it up, it's gonna end up in the waterways, it's gonna end in, you know, uh wherever it may go, yeah. Right, exactly.

Simple Daily Actions That Add Up

Tisha Bayne 15:09

And that's what happens when at our events, like we were at that event together, and people volunteer, and once they participate, then they realize the importance of it and how easy it is to make a difference, and then it does bring that awareness of what each person can really do.

"Cabo" Jim 15:31

And that's that's the important side of it. It's the awareness, the education. So, where can listeners go to learn more, volunteer, or support your mission?

Where To Sign Up And Stay Updated

Tisha Bayne 15:40

So um, our website is klcb.org. So everything's there. Um, the easy the best way to stay updated because things are constantly changing, are is our social media, Facebook and Instagram. Um, but then on our website, we do have an event calendar that's updated. There's also a monthly newsletter, and then we have an Eventbrite page that you can follow, and that's where our registration for all of our events is handled through Eventbrite. And like I said, right now we have some cleanups coming up, and there's spots open. I actually just posted today, we just had a large group cancel for a cleanup that's taking place tomorrow, tomorrow morning at Boutage. So we have spots open. Um, and so I posted that and I know it was already shared. So hopefully, you know, people can um sign up because of course we want you know, we want to fill it up and make it the best that it can be.

"Cabo" Jim 16:46

Absolutely, it's all the grand picture and the big picture of keeping Lee County beautiful, but not just Lee County, everywhere we go, we want to make sure it's clean and it's it's you know it's nice for generations to come, correct?

Tisha Bayne 17:00

Exactly.

"Cabo" Jim 17:01

So uh any last words for listeners today?

Tisha Bayne 17:05

Um no, I mean I think the biggest thing is if people could you know, you know, just follow us what we're you know, follow us on social media, that makes a big difference. Sharing our events, um, getting it involved. I mean, you don't have to like for the ambassadors, if you want to do something like that, it's you, it's on your schedule what you want to do. Um we would just tell you about you know that there's different things that are happening, and if you want to help out any little way, like I said, you know, we are small staff, so we rely on you know the support of our volunteers and all of our sponsors, really make it happen.

"Cabo" Jim 17:49

So get out there and make it happen, Fort River's Beach and Lee County in general.

Tisha Bayne 17:55

Yep.

"Cabo" Jim 17:55

So, Tisha, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor, and we'll see you at the next cleanup. All right. I'll see you there. Take care.

Closing Thanks And Ways To Support

Tisha Bayne 18:05

Bye-bye.

Intro/Close 18:06

Thank you for joining us on State Insurance USA Cares. We hope today's story uplifted and inspired you. If you'd like to support or learn more about the incredible work happening in your community, visit StateInsuranceusa.com or call 239 567 9992. You can also visit CaboWaboJim.com. Until next time, be sure to let your sun shine and keep sharing good and positive vibes wherever the waves take you.