Guess how many tourist trinkets get left behind

It began with shovels and buckets. It will soon help fund a playground for ALL children at the all-new Island Rec Center.

Susan Ochsner was just one of a group of regular dog walkers who skirted the beaches of Sea Pines every morning when she noticed the toys in the sand left behind by visitors. Members of the group began collecting this random detritus as they walked, until they decided to start keeping score.

“It was last year we decided to see who could get them most shovels. Then it was buckets, sunglasses, you name it,” she said. “We threw it into my beach car and that’s when we decided to really make a game out of it.”

That game challenged friends to guess how many pieces of beach trinkets, from sunglasses to shovels, were stuffed inside Ochsner’s 2000 Buick Park Avenue, named “Cashew’s Caravan.”  At $5 a guess, the group helped clean pieces of litter from beaches and raised $700 for Memory Matters and donate the toys to Boys and Girls Club.

The fundraiser proved so successful, they’re doing it again. Residents and visitors to Hilton Head can stop by The Sea Pines Resort parking lot between Sept. 16 and 30 and check out “Cashew’s Caravan,” once again stuffed full of beach trinkets, and guess how many pieces are in it. The winner will get a $200 gift certificate from The Sea Pines Resort, but the real winners will be area special needs children. The Children’s Relief Fund has been working to raise extra funds for a specialized playground at the Island Rec Center that will be available ALL children, including those with mental and physical challenges, and they will receive all funds from this year’s guessing game.

Instructions on how to participate will be on the car.

For more information, call Rose Fotia at 843-290-0182.