Certainly a trip to the beach shouldn’t make a child weep, with the exception of the occasional sunburn or insect bite. A lesson on life and death and the harsh realities of the world is something new to coastal Baldwin’s beautiful beaches, at least on such a large scale; new for the past seven weeks and counting. Such a bitter lesson resulted from a recent beach experience in Gulf Shores for one Foley child.

Hannah Collins, 5, knows all about the oil spill, according to her mother, Bailey. For one, Hannah’s father, Derik, works on an oil rig.

“We went to the beach the day the oil washed up,” Bailey said of the trip she and her daughter made to Gulf Shores.

“Hannah found a dead bird covered with oil on the beach and wanted to bring it home.”

When Bailey told her daughter she couldn’t, it was upsetting to the child who just graduated from kindergarten. But, like many things in life, out of the tears came a sense of purpose and mission. Bailey told her daughter, while nothing could be done for the dead bird, something could be done to help wildlife that might yet be affected by the oil. Baldwin County Kids 4 Clean-Up was the result.

The grassroots effort locally hopes to assist local officials in the rescue of wildlife by gathering supplies that could be used to clean the feathers or bodies of animals that come in contact with the oil. Supplies will be gathered and donated to the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency for use by those trained to clean birds and other wildlife affected by oil contact and contamination.

“My uncle in Missouri is getting in touch with a radio station there and they are going to partnership with Walmart, so we could get a truck or trailer full of supplies,” Bailey said this week.

Hannah and her parents moved to this area about three years ago from Missouri.

Kids 4 Clean-Up is asking the public to donate the following items: used rags and towels; Dawn dishwashing liquid (blue color only); rubber gloves; Q-Tips, toothbrushes, gallon size Ziploc bags; garbage bags; and cash for the purchase of these items.

Supplies are being gathered at Pleasant View Baptist Church in Foley and the Summerdale Church of Christ. For more information call 251-955-1309.

The Rev. Kelly Brown of Pleasant View said he is going to invite Hannah and her mother to take part in children’s church at Pleasant View on Sunday. There Hannah can share what she is doing to help wildlife in a time of crisis. And perhaps adults will remember the story of a famous figure who once set a child in their midst and said, essentially, follow her example.