Firefly goers' trash becomes Kent, Sussex Code Purple's treasure

The News Journal

DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan (right) and volunteer Levi Fisher compare chairs they plucked from piles of trash left by Firefly attendees at The Woodland campgrounds. More than 30 members of "Team DelDOT" joined other volunteers on Monday to collect camping equipment that will be repurposed by Code Purple of Kent and Sussex counties.

DOVER — Mounds of trash and unwanted items littered Firefly Music Festival's Woodlands campgrounds as far as the eye could see Monday.

Volunteers from "Team DelDOT" found out firsthand what was left from the four-day festival as 34 members spread out to collect unwanted camping items and discarded nonperishable food items for Code Purple in Kent and Sussex counties.

This project repurposes camping equipment left behind by people attending Firefly. The Code Purple team and its community partners walk the camping areas in search of reusable durable camping products such as sleeping bags, tents, bedrolls, reusable water bottles, lanterns, flashlights, clothing, and footwear, in addition to nonperishable foods.

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Helen Banks and Linda Heinold pulled out a perfectly good tent and dug a little deeper into a pile to find the bag that once held it.

Danyel Bowles and Kristy Rogers dumped water out of a kiddie pool that was obviously used as a cooler for large quantities of alcohol.

"There is no mistaking that smell," Rogers said.

A little farther into the campground, Levi Fisher and DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan compared chairs each had retrieved. Cohan's green inflatable chair won out on the coolness scale.

This is the third year DelDOT volunteers have collected items for Code Purple of Kent County, an umbrella organization of local churches that offers emergency sanctuary to the nearly 500 homeless in the area.

Best known for providing shelter during the coldest days of winter, Code Purple operates year-round to give those struggling with housing food, clothing and other items.

Pam Lilly, deputy director of community relations for DelDOT, gives last-minute instructions to 34 volunteers who collected usable camping items to be repurposed by Code Purple of Kent and Sussex counties.

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Sussex County didn't have enough volunteers to form a collection team this year, so Cohan and her army of volunteers decided to represent both counties.

Rebecca Martin, who co-founded Code Purple in 2013, has applauded the effort since it began in 2015, saying the organization wouldn't be able to buy the items provided each year from Firefly.

Code Purple volunteers also man a booth inside The Woodlands where they hand out donated purple bracelets to festival-goers and encourage them to hand over their unused goods or tag them with a purple zip tie for later collection.

DelDOT volunteer Kim Elisee hoists a discarded tent into a truck Monday morning at The Woodlands campground in Dover. More than 30 members of "Team DelDOT" joined other volunteers on Monday to collect camping equipment left after Firefly ended. The collected equipment will be repurposed by Code Purple of Kent and Sussex counties.

All of the items are loaded on trucks provided by Two Men and a Truck moving company and then are cleaned before being housed in a Code Purple storage unit.

"This is part of our DelDOT give back campaign," Cohan said as she directed volunteers and collected items. "It's great to give back to our communities."

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

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