Cutler Bay Hosts Largest Cleanup to Date with 200 Participants

The Town of Cutler Bay welcomed a record 200 participants to Coastal Ridge Preserve on Saturday, September 19, for International Coastal Cleanup 2026, marking the Town’s largest cleanup to date.

Together, volunteers removed approximately 3,000 pounds (1.5 tons) of trash and debris, including material that had remained at the property since Hurricane Andrew. Volunteers also planted more than 100 native species to help restore the preserve’s natural landscape. Building on the cleanup efforts held in 2024 and 2025, this year’s turnout demonstrated the community’s continued commitment to protecting Cutler Bay’s natural spaces.

The Town purchased the 8.5-acre Coastal Ridge Preserve in 2020 to protect its environmentally significant land, prevent development, and support community resilience. Cleanup efforts like this help restore and preserve the property for future generations.

Among those who participated were student volunteers from the COAST academies at Cutler Bay High School and Cutler Bay Middle School, Mater Bay Academy, and South Ridge High School, along with teachers from the participating schools. Cutler Bay High School Principal Lucas De La Torre and Cutler Bay Middle School Principal Jose L. Peña III also joined the effort, as did members of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and Livablecutler, among other local organizations and community groups.

The Town of Cutler Bay thanks State Representative Omar Blanco, Councilmembers Robert “BJ” Duncan, Suzy Lord, and Richard Ramirez, and all the students, teachers, families, neighbors, and volunteers from schools and communities throughout the area who helped make this record-breaking effort possible.

Cutler Bay’s cleanup was one of a record 74 cleanups held across Miami-Dade County this year, where more than 3,900 volunteers collectively removed over 26,000 pounds of trash, according to VolunteerCleanup.org. The countywide effort, coordinated by VolunteerCleanup.org and co-hosted by Clean Miami Beach, brought together nonprofits, neighborhood leaders, and local governments to protect coastal environments.