Volunteers help with Clearwater cleanup effort

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - Mattresses, bottles, old tires, even refrigerators - these are just some of the items Safe Harbor and Pinellas County Sheriff's volunteers pulled out of wooded lots in Clearwater Saturday.

More than 100 residents of the Pinellas County shelter volunteered to help clean up illegally dumped garbage and trash left behind in homeless camps as part of the "Take a Bite Out of Grime" initiative.

Together, the volunteers have helped clear and properly dispose of more than 14,000 pounds of trash this year. Since the project's inception three years ago, they've cleaned up more than 14 tons of trash.

Safe Harbor residents say it's a way of giving back to the community that's done so much to help them get back on their feet.

"I feel better about myself when I help other people," said Floyd Fonck, who came to Safe Harbor five months ago with his fiancee when the two were laid off and had nowhere else to turn. "It's something I try to do everyday and if more people did that it'd be a better community."