Thank You Thursday – 7.25.13

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.—Nelson Mandela

Our monthly Nothin’ But Sand beach cleanup was made even more significant last week, as it was held in honor of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela as part of an international volunteer effort to encourage people to donate 67 minutes of their time to their favorite causes.

Rico Cabrera, Jr, founder of the locally-based Rico Gets Better Foundation partnered with us to bring 460 volunteers to Will Rogers Beach. Saturday’s effort removed more than 100 pounds of debris from the shore. Thank you to Rico, his crew and our own dedicated beach cleaners!

To spur the spirit of grassroots organizing, we would also like to thank advocacy group Keep Hermosa hermosa for encouraging Hermosa Beach residents to attend a proposed oil drilling EIR scoping meeting at the Hermosa Beach Community Center held on July 24. An oil company, E&B Natural Resources, is proposing to drill four blocks inland from a beloved local beach. Residents will vote on the project in approximately a year. Until then, it’s important to continue to raise informed and well-researched questions about the environmental, economic and community health impacts of opening Hermosa Beach to drilling.

Cigarette butts were the hot agenda item at this week’s Corporate Healer Cleanup with DirecTV.  Forty volunteers collected enough cigarettes to measure 6 and a half feet. Thank for being such wonderful corporate citizens!

This week we also extend props to Mattel, Inc. for their commitment to supporting our Youth Education Day 2013, an event that will officially kick off Coastal Cleanup Day activities in September.

And once again, we thank the folks at Golden Road Brewing who guided us through their beer-making process as part of a Heal the Bay members event on July 13 (pictured above). What a relaxing way to spend a hot afternoon, learning about what goes into our favorite craft beer, the Heal the Bay IPA. (Still haven’t tried it? We hear it’s still available at Whole Foods and was even spotted at a Trader Joe’s!)

The big kahuna of cleanups is just around the corner…Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21! Get your friends and family on board!