What started out as an idea to raise money for a bachelorette party turned into movement to clean up our oceans.
Karen Plianthos, the founder of the Cash, Trash, Bash initiative in Bermuda, traveled to Hatteras Island to share her passion for ocean conservation at the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building on October 19.
Plianthos was joined by Bryan Burhans, director of Outer Banks Forever; Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy, Outer Banks Forever founding board member and reporter for The Coastland Times; and Jeff Schwartzenberg, community engagement manager for the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.
Plianthos started her organization in 2015 to raise money for a bachelorette party by garnering donations for pulling trash from the waters around Bermuda.
She would solicit gifts (Cash), dive to collect trash from the ocean (Trash) and then use it for the bachelorette party (Bash). And the effort was very successful: Cash, Trash, Bash was born.
Now, Plianthos’ “bash” is giving funds to organizations that help protect our oceans and beaches.
“This project is about your ABCs,” Plianthos said. “Advocate for behavioral change.”
Plianthos, together with her 74-year-old mother, Louise Jones, and her two young daughters Ophelia (6) and Grace (5), raise awareness of the need to care for our oceans instead of treating them like dump sites.
“This year we pulled out 1,638 pounds of trash from the waters around Bermuda and raised almost $5,000 to split between two organizations,” Plianthos said.
The proceeds were shared between the Sargasso Sea Commission and Outer Banks Forever.
“I wanted to donate to a nonprofit in the United States, and the thought of Cape Hatteras came to my mind as it is closest to Bermuda,” Plianthos said. “I searched Google for environmentally-friendly organizations and Outer Banks Forever came up in the results.”
She soon put in motion plans to visit Cape Hatteras National Seashore, marking her first visit to the Outer Banks.
“I was shocked by your beaches,” Plianthos said. “Your beaches go on for days! And they are so clean. Trash-wise, the Outer Banks beaches are phenomenally clean.”
Plianthos was impressed with the Outer Banks in other ways as well. She recalled while driving from Rodanthe south on NC Highway 12, “It felt like we’re on the moon – nothing but sand dunes. And it made me wonder if there was civilization on the other side; it was so beautiful.”
At the conclusion of her talk, Plianthos, her mother and her two daughters presented Outer Banks Forever with a gift of $2,756.87 to support Outer Banks Forever’s ongoing work on Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
“To come all the way from Bermuda and provide this generous gift to support our efforts on Cape Hatteras National Seashore demonstrates Karen and her family’s love of and passion for the ocean,” Bryan Burhans, director of Outer Banks Forever said. “Her story was moving, and it was fun and inspiring how she involved her two girls and her mother into the presentation.”
Outer Banks Forever was established in 2019 as the official nonprofit partner of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial, helping to protect and enhance these special places.
To date, Outer Banks Forever has supported the Outer Banks national parks by raising more than $1 million for projects like the mobility-friendly Oregon Inlet Kayak Launch, Pathways to Your National Parks, an enhanced Freedom Trail at Fort Raleigh, programs like Adopt A Pony and Adopt A Sea Turtle Nest, virtual learning experiences and much more.
To learn more visit www.obxforever.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The post Founder of Cash, Trash, Bash initiative in Bermuda makes gift to Outer Banks Forever appeared first on Island Free Press.
Add to favoritesCredit: Original content published here.
