As part of "Make a Difference Day" 300 volunteers with St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Melbourne Central Catholic High School potted over 3,000 mangroves, planted several hundred along the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon and assisted MRC staff in the removal of 8 truck loads of Brazilian Pepper from 4 acres of shoreline. The students restoration of the lagoon was dedicated to the memory of Bernard Brown, an 11 year old boy who lost his life when his plane crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He was on his way to a National Geographic Research Expedition to study the marine environment. MRC and FPL paid to have Bernard’s parents and sister flown in from Washington DC to participate and see the hundreds of students restoring the environment Bernard loved. By removing the invasive plants and planting mangroves these students created enough habitat to nurture thousands of fish and birds every year.