What a summer!

After 15 Saturday mornings of cleaning our beaches, supporting local organizations, and watching our community show up week after week, the 2026 Pineapple Willy’s Foundation Summer Beach Cleanup has officially come to an end.

And what a way to finish it.

Despite less-than-perfect weather for our final cleanup on Saturday, September 12, 130 volunteers showed up to help us clean the beach and support Patronis Elementary School.

With the Pineapple Willy’s Foundation typically donating $10 for every volunteer who participates, that turnout would have resulted in a $1,300 donation. But to celebrate the final cleanup of an incredible summer, the Foundation decided to make it extra special and presented Patronis Elementary with a check for $2,500!

When we look back at the entire summer, the impact of these Saturday mornings adds up to something pretty incredible.

From our first cleanup on June 6 through our season finale on September 12, we held 15 Summer Beach Cleanups benefiting organizations throughout our local community.

Over the course of the season, we had a combined 1,529 volunteer appearances at our cleanups.

And because those volunteers continued to show up, the Pineapple Willy’s Foundation was able to donate a combined total of:

$39,730

That money went directly to local nonprofits, schools, and community programs doing important work throughout Bay County and Northwest Florida.

This summer’s beneficiaries included St. Andrew Bay Watch, Anchorage Children’s Home, Bay Education Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bay County, BASIC NWFL, Athletics 4 All, Emerald & Forgotten Coast Adventures, Rachel’s Bags of Love, Salty Farm Ministries, Arc of the Bay, Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida, The Evers House, Panama City Rescue Mission, Toys for Kids Foundation, and Patronis Elementary School.

One of the biggest moments of the season came during our June 13 cleanup benefiting Anchorage Children’s Home. In addition to the $1,010 generated by the 101 volunteers who attended, the Foundation was so moved by the work of the organization’s SNAP (Stop Now And Plan) program that it made an additional $10,000 donation specifically to support the program.

Throughout the summer, the Foundation also frequently rounded up or doubled the donations generated by our volunteers, allowing these Saturday mornings to make an even greater impact.

We watched the Summer Beach Cleanup continue to grow throughout the season.

Our largest single turnout came on September 5, when an incredible 170 volunteers joined us to support the Toys for Kids Foundation. That morning resulted in a $3,400 donation after the Foundation doubled the amount generated by the turnout.

But the numbers only tell part of the story.

Every Saturday morning, we saw families, children, local residents, visitors, businesses, community groups, and returning volunteers come together for the same reason: to take care of the place we’re fortunate enough to call home.

Some people joined us once. Others came back week after week. Every one of them made a difference.

None of this would be the same without the businesses and organizations that supported our volunteers throughout the summer.

We want to give a huge thank you to all of our raffle sponsors who donated prizes and helped us make each Saturday morning something our volunteers could look forward to.

For our final cleanup, we also drew the winners of our season-long grand prizes.

A very special thank you goes to Lagoon Pontoons PCB, Red Alert Diving, and Sunjammers for providing our grand prizes, and congratulations to all of our lucky winners!

We encourage everyone to support the businesses that support our community.

Most importantly, thank you to every person who gave us an hour of their Saturday morning this summer.

Because of you, our beaches are cleaner.

Because of you, 15 deserving local organizations and causes received additional financial support.

And because of you, the Pineapple Willy’s Foundation was able to turn 1,529 volunteer appearances into $39,730 in donations to our community.

That’s what the Summer Beach Cleanup is all about.

We’re already beginning to plan next year’s Summer Beach Cleanup, and we can’t wait to get back out there and do it all over again.

Until then, keep doing your part to take care of our beaches, our community, and our planet.

Thank you for an incredible 2026 Summer Beach Cleanup season!