JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of volunteers spruced up parts of Hogans Creek in Historic Springfield on Saturday. They’re out there the third Saturday of every month, but this weekend’s cleanup was timely -- on the heels of recent flooding that left cars stranded in a nearby hospital parking lot.
The volunteers picked up anything from trash and debris to used needles and even a bicycle found in the creek.
Shanell Davis-Bryant led the charge. She is the program manager for Groundwork Jacksonville, which is partnering with the city in building the 30-mile Emerald Trail.
“Cleaning out the stormwater drains, things like that help to reduce flooding in the area,” Davis-Bryant said. “But it also keeps trash out of the creek, which keeps out of the St. Johns River, which keeps it out of the Atlantic Ocean.”
The restoration of Hogans Creek and nearby McCoys Creek is timely as those areas are notorious for flooding.
That is what happened Thursday with flash flooding in Springfield. It stretched a mile and a half from the site of the cleanup to UF Health’s Pavilion parking lot on Jefferson Street, leaving several cars stranded in standing water.
Davis-Bryant said Saturday’s cleanup will not stop further flash flooding because that is a structural issue.
“It is really going to prevent the smaller flooding, like from stormwater drains for being clogged up,” she said. “It is going to help trash from rushing down into the system.”
“There are little items that get pushed up with the flash flooding, especially with the cleanup after,” said Alicia Smith, who volunteers regularly. “It helps the volunteers access it better. It knocks it out of those nooks and crannies so we can go and get it.”
Smith and Bryant-Davis believe these consistent events to beautify the area educate and engage the community.
“It takes many hands to get a job done,” Smith said. “We need you in order to get this project done.”
“There are sometimes groups that live in Mandarin, they live at the Beaches, and they have never been to historic Springfield,” Davis-Bryant said. “They have never seen down by the stadium area. I guess people who live here, they get to see it in a different light.”
According to Groundwork Jacksonville, volunteers collected 540 bags of trash from June 2021 to July 2022.
That comes out to 18,900 pounds of trash in the city over the course of a year.