Mepham High School senior Ashley Felsberg led a lofty mission to collect used, discarded balloons.

As part of her community service efforts through the Science National Honor Society, Felsberg connected with local florists and party planning businesses to provide an option for safe balloon disposal. She also worked with school officials to get the word out to the community that there was a disposal site on campus. She collected nearly a dozen bags of balloons.

"This is our largest single haul from one person since we started the program, " said Cynthia Seibold, the founder and executive director of Balloon Mission Inc. "With this latest collection, our numbers have jumped past 30,000, a new record."

She thanked the district for empowering 'environmental stewardship with our students and community.'

“With your support, Mepham has been leading the way in raising awareness about the unintended harm balloons have when they're released into the sky,” Seibold added.

Balloon Mission’s goal is to raise awareness on the consumption and the litter that is made and give people an opportunity to clean up the world for future generations. To that end, they’ve created an environmental advocacy organization to craft solutions and effect positive change.

“There are many people who love balloons, and our goal is to support and promote responsible balloon behavior,” states their mission.“When the fun is done, we collect balloons after people are finished using them. We make sure they don’t become plastic litter and find good end-of-use solutions for them.”