Did you know:

• FOT started Tigertail Beach cleanups in 2006. There have been 2789 volunteers, 872 bags of trash, 27 tires, totaling 6825 pounds of trash, over 3 tons! Since 2012, 846 people have attended the Breakfast and Birds event!  
• Since 2012, Friends of Tigertail has awarded 24 Campership scholarships to school children!
• Since 2012, over 1532 people have attended the Friends of the Friends of Tigertail Discover Tigertail education programs!

Friends of Tigertail Hosts beach Clean-up for Keep Collier Beautiful "Bay Days"

Celebrating Earth Day, Keep Collier Beautiful organized their annual "Bay Days" clean-up on many Collier County beaches on Saturday, April 20, and Friends of Tigertail hosted the event on Tigertail Beach. 32 volunteers, included 3 students from MIA and Tommie Barfield schools, 2 Collier County Parks and Rec rangers, several members of Friends of Tigertail, including 7 board members, and local families and individuals, all working together to spruce up the beach and park.

Keep Collier Beautiful is a subsidiary of Keep America Beautiful, encompassing 20,000 communities nationwide supporting litter prevention and community clean-up programs. Combining volunteers, businesses, and municipalities, the clean-up programs provide supplies and organization supporting unique local environments,

At this event, participants noted less litter on Tigertail beach and park, and in tallying the weight of the trash, 5 pounds of recycle materials and 24 pounds of litter were collected, totaling 29 pounds: less than usual. Besides a few construction pieces, no large items such as tires or chairs were seen: very encouraging!

During the event Friends of Tigertail board members cleared out the ailing butterfly garden, planting new greenery to transform the area into a beautiful pollinator garden along the boardwalk.

Friends of Tigertail holds quarterly beach clean-ups, and the next is scheduled for Saturday, July 6.

Friends of Tigertail Add Benches to Tigertail Park Upgrades

Friends of Tigertail donated two benches to the Tigertail Beach Park, augmenting the recently upgraded playground area as well as the observation tower.

On Monday, August 16 a ceremony was held for the bench donation, with Friends of Tigertail Board members and Melissa Hennig, Regional Manager of Beaches and Water for the Collier County Parks and Recreation. The location of the benches will benefit park visitors, with one in the newly renovated playground area so that families can be comfortable watching their children at play, and the other bench placed on the lower level of the observation tower, creating a shaded perch to observe the beach below.

Friends of Tigertail is appreciative of the county's efforts in improving the park's facilities. The new playground is now state of the art, and will be enjoyed by many young park visitors. Through a grant from the Community Foundation of Collier County, a tall shade structure was added, providing relief from direct sun for the children.