EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Pineda Waterway Warriors Cleans Up Pineda Causeway and Make a Difference

Local non-profit has picked up over 23,000 pounds of trash in 2023

WATCH: Two members of the local non-profit Pineda Waterway Warriors, Sherill Spaccio and Sharon Noll, talk with the Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson about their efforts to clean up the Pineda Causeway. In less than two years their group has grown to almost 50 volunteers and has picked up over 41,000 pounds of trash.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – I recently had the opportunity to sit down with two people that are truly making a difference on the Space Coast. Sherill Spaccio and Sharon Noll, along with Sandra Leone and Michelle Fitzgerald, are co-founders of the Pineda Waterway Warriors.

Spaccio and Noll joined me at the Erdman Automotive Studio in Cocoa, to talk with me about their non-profit.

The Pineda Waterway Warriors meet twice a month to pick up trash along the 4-mile stretch of the Pineda Causeway. They pick up rubbish from both sides of the road, which covers eight miles.

The “Core4,” consisting of Spaccio, Noll, Leone, and Fitzgerald, has grown to almost 50 volunteers.

I asked Spaccio about the group, as well as how and why it was started. She told me, “Our mission is to help our community understand the cause and the harmful impact waterway debris” has on our community, including the lagoon.

The Pineda Waterway Warriors are making a difference. They have been in existence less than two years and have already picked up over 41,000 pounds of trash and debris.

For more information, or to join their group, go to Pineda Waterway Warriors Facebook page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steve Wilson was born in DeRidder, Louisiana and grew up in both New Orleans and Macon, Georgia.  He moved to Brevard County in 1984 and retired from local government as the Community Advocate/Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Rockledge in 2018.

Among the awards and accolades Steve has received over the years are 15 + year Rockledge Little League volunteer, Brevard Public School Jefferson Award Recipient, Rockledge High School Raider Booster Award 2001, 2006, City of Rockledge Employee of the Year 2006, Rockledge Kiwanian of the Year 2006-2007, City of Rockledge Quality Public Service Award 2008, 2012, 2017, Rockledge Kiwanis Citizen of the Year 2012-2013, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Sportscasting 2015, Rockledge High School Leadership and Service Award 2016, Central Florida Humanitarian Award 2017, Space Coast Inspiration Award – 2018 and Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Lifetime Achievement – 2020.

Wilson is especially proud of is chairing two fundraisers in support of pediatric cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock that raised over $25,000.00.

He has been a partner, along with Orville Susong, for the past 24 years with the Friday Night Locker Room, a broadcasting team that covers and reports on a wide variety of local events that are of significance to the residents of the Space Coast and beyond. Their mission is to promote youth sports, support first responders and law enforcement personnel, and showcase community and charitable events that are produced by our nonprofit partners in central Florida.

The Friday Night Locker Room has awarded hundreds of sports achievement plaques to Brevard County student-athletes over the years. They have also awarded more than $18,000 in academic scholarships to Brevard County high school seniors.

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