Courtesy Mary Thompson Courtesy Mary Thompson
Chatham

Dresden girl's beach cleanup efforts celebrated after photo goes viral

An 11-year-old from Dresden is being praised for helping to clean up Erieau Beach after the Canada Day fireworks show there last week.

Taylor Thompson received recognition from dozens of local residents and even Mayor Darrin Canniff after her mom shared a post about her picking up garbage.

It started as a routine family outing for Taylor, her three siblings and their mother, Mary. The family spent the evening in Erieau, watching the fireworks display on Canada Day. However, after the fireworks were over and the Thompson family was leaving the beach, they realized that a large amount of garbage had been left out on the shoreline.

"Everyone was leaving and the kids noticed all the garbage and everything so they were picking it up as we were leaving and then we just decided to go back early in the morning," explained Mary.

Taylor and her mother made the 45-minute drive back out to Erieau the next day and when they returned, the pair collected 14 bags of garbage and four bags of empty cans and bottles. Besides helping the environment, Mary said they also wanted to make sure the litter didn't put a damper on any future plans for the community.

"That was one of our other things," she said. "If people come out and see the mess and then it creates a ruckus and what if they don't do the fireworks next year?"

After the cleanup, Mary posted a before and after snapshot of the beach on her Facebook page. Shortly after that post went up, Taylor's good deed was being praised by strangers across the municipality after a neighbour shared the same image. Within less than a week, the post had been shared 1,100 times and racked up over 600 'reactions'.

"We were actually blown away," Mary said. "I posted it on my personal Facebook and my neighbour asked if she could share the before and after and I was like 'sure, whatever,' but I didn't think it was going to go viral the way it did."

Most of the over 300 comments on the photo thanked Taylor for her work. However, many commenters also expressed shocked over the amount of litter on the beach, with one person stating "this is why our planet is a mess." According to Mary, Taylor still has a sort of innocence as to why people have been reacting so strongly to the side-by-side photo.

"She's like 'mom, all we did was pick up garbage, I don't get it.' I'm just like, 'well, it's bigger than you know'," Mary said.

Courtesy Mary ThompsonCourtesy Mary Thompson

Besides getting kudos from the residents of Chatham-Kent, Taylor has also received recognition from some of the municipality's top officials. The day the photo was initially shared, South Kent Councillor Anthony Ceccacci met with Taylor and presented her with a gift. On Saturday, she also received a personal visit from Mayor Canniff, who presented her with a certificate for 'beautifying Chatham-Kent.'

Taylor and her mother said they are both thankful for all the kind words they've received from everyone who saw the photo. Although they never intended to for their action to get as much publicity as it did, they are hoping the picture can serve as an important reminder to people.

"Just remember to pick up after yourselves," said Mary. "Do what you would do at your own home or what you would want others to do at your home, pick up your garbage and use the garbage pail."

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