Surfriders host Barefoot beach clean up

A popular wine manufacturer plans to make Dewey Beach more barefoot friendly this summer.

The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project is an annual summer event, sponsored by Barefoot Wine and held at different locations nationwide.  In partnership with the Surfrider Foundation, the project aims to keep beaches litter-free.

The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project started in 2007, but this is only the second time a clean up has been organized in Dewey Beach. “We love both the community of Dewey Beach and the Surfrider chapter there,” said Blaine Rueber, event spokesman.

The program, held every year from May to September, changes its stops to include beaches all over the country. This year, the project will make 15 stops, including Seattle, Boston, Miami and Dewey Beach.

Volunteers are invited to meet at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 13, at the beach on Tower Road, just south of Dewey Beach town limits. The clean up is scheduled to end at noon, and all volunteers 21 and older will receive tickets for a free celebration from 1 to 3 p.m., at Conch Island Restaurant on Rehoboth Avenue, featuring Barefoot Wine and surf-inspired fare.

Laura Lee, director of marketing for the Surfrider Foundation said in a press release, “We count on volunteers to inspire change in the way we treat and respect beaches around the world.”

Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation have been working together for more than 20 years; the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project was created to heighten the partnership, Rueber said.

Each year, about 25,000 U.S. beaches are closed or posted as unhealthy, and 8 million pounds of trash could be picked up off the world’s beaches in a single day, Rueber said.

“They wanted to look at how we can do something to address those issues,” he said.

Since the project began, Barefoot has hosted more than 100 beach rescue cleanups across the country and removed more than eight tons of trash with the help of more than 5,000 volunteers. “That’s the main goal, so people can continue to enjoy beaches all over the country,” Rueber said.

Over the last six years, Barefoot Wine has donated more than $1 million to the Surfrider Foundation.

For more information, or to register for the clean up, go to BeachRescue2013.com.