Bulls clean up Chicago's 12th Street Beach
Randy Brown, Sidney Green and other members of the Bulls staff teamed up with the Shedd Aquarium’s Great Lakes conservation team to clean up Chicago’s 12th Street Beach
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Video by BullsTV | Story by Adam Fluck | Photos by Junhyun Bae | 09.01.2011
Randy Brown, Sidney Green, members of the Bulls front office and Levy restaurant staff joined the Shedd Aquarium’s Great Lakes conservation team to clean up Chicago’s 12th Street Beach on Tuesday.
Volunteers collected garbage and recyclables before visiting the Shedd Aquarium, where they invited the public to join them in their commitment and took the Great Lakes Pledge in the Local Waters Gallery.
Nearly 40 volunteers from the Bulls and Levy collected a total of 50.74 pounds of waste from the beach—22.58 pounds of trash and 28.16 pounds of recyclable materials. According to the Great Lakes Alliance, beach clean-up events typically collect an average of 30 pounds.
“We need to be a country and a community of givers, not just takers,” said Steve Schanwald, Executive Vice President of Business Operations for the Bulls and one of the afternoon’s volunteers. “We recognize our responsibility to give back to a community who gives us so much. Just as Chicago supports the Bulls, the Bulls need to support Chicago.
“The event was just one small way we could make a positive impact on a small part of our community,” added Schanwald. “It was fun to do it as a group, and it made all of us feel really good about doing something so positive and helping to make that small part of the world better than we found it.”
For Brown, who grew up on the West Side of Chicago, the opportunity to clean up a city he has always called home carried a little extra meaning.
“Whenever the Bulls can get out into the community to beautify the city, especially our beaches, it’s always a good cause,” said Brown, the team’s Special Assistant to the General Manager. “And for me, it’s a chance to spend time with a lot of my co-workers I don’t normally get to see. We had a lot of fun.”
“It was a wonderful event for a worthy cause,” said Green, one of the Bulls’ ambassadors who makes regular appearances in the community. “This is a great location for a beach, and we want to ensure that people can come here and enjoy it.
“The most remarkable part of my experience was when as we cleaned up, a couple three and four year olds came over to ask if they could help,” added Green. “They stepped right in and helped us clean up the beach. It’s all about us as a group reaching out, but to have such young children ask their parents if they can help too really impressed me.”
More than one thousand animal species and 42 million people depend on the Great Lakes every day. To reduce the garbage that makes beaches unsafe and endangers fish health, Shedd Aquarium’s Great Lakes conservation team regularly hosts Adopt-A-Beach events at 12th Street Beach.
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