Wake-Up, Wednesday Invites The Community To Help Keep East End Beaches Clean And Support Local Businesses

Ryan Ann Duffy and Colleen Marie Henn are looking to unite beach lovers and help keep the East End community fit during Wake-Up, Wednesday.

“Wake-Up, Wednesday was started by my best friend, Ryan Ann Duffy, and I,” explained Colleen Marie Henn. “We wanted to find a way to combine everything we love.”

After attendees are properly caffeinated with coffee donated from a local establishment and fueled from a light breakfast, they can help keep our beaches pristine during a clean-up and finish the morning with a sandy exercise session, giving do-gooders a pretty good reason to skip that snooze button.

Debuting on Wednesday, July 20th, the duo’s inaugural event at the beaches by South Edison and the Sloppy Tuna in Montauk was an overwhelming success. “Our first turnout included ten individuals from Southampton to Montauk,” shared Henn. “With amazing weather, delicious cold brew from Left Hand, and gluten free muffins from Naturally Good we were ready to go bright and early.”

Using burlap bags provided by Surfrider Foundation, Eastern Long Island Chapter, attendees collected debris during a 40 minute walk down Montauk’s beaches and left with an impressive about of garbage. “We scoured South Edison beach in Montauk and within an hour we filled up five huge burlap bags of trash,” explained Henn. “It’s very inspiring to see how much we got done in such a small amount of time.” After the beach clean-up the group fit in a workout with Erin T at SoulCycle Montauk.

Each week will cover a new location. “We intend to move westward by the week, that way we target different communities within the East End,” shared Henn. “Once we hit Southampton, we’ll begin again in Montauk.”

The organization’s founders plan to keep it local by offering bites and sips from East End locales. “Every week we’ll be going to a different beach, getting coffee/ gluten-free goodies donated from a local shop, doing a beach clean-up, and then joining together for an exercise,” she noted.

The group began in Montauk, and will head to Amagansett next. “We are excited to take our efforts eastward to Indian Wells beach in Amagansett on Wednesday, July 27th at 7 a.m.,” she shared.

As for other upcoming locations, you can find updates on the group’s social media page. “We announce the location a few days prior to the event on Facebook, so the easiest way to stay connected is to like our page and subscribe,” explained Henn.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com.