Volunteers Needed to Clean up and Preserve State Parks at California State Parks Foundation Earth Day Events
The California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) will fund 29 environmental improvement projects at parks statewide as part of the 12th annual Earth Day Restoration & Cleanup. On Saturday, April 25th, volunteers of all ages are needed to help restore the beauty of California’s treasured state parks. Now more than ever, community participation is critical due to continuing budget cuts and a variety of threats to state parks throughout California.
Statewide, thousands of volunteers each year plant native trees and community gardens, restore trails and wildlife habitats, remove trash and debris from beaches and parklands and make overdue repairs to fences and boardwalks. Since its inception in 1998, the California State Parks Foundation Earth Day Restoration & Cleanup program has had a tremendous impact -- 63,000 participants have contributed over 265,000volunteer hours worth more than $5,250,000 in park maintenance and improvements. Including this year’s grants, CSPF, with the support of its sponsors, has awarded more than $1.1 million to state parks throughout California.
Volunteers will complete environmental improvement and maintenance projects in honor of Earth Day at 29 state and community parks across California, including 10 sites in Southern California:
- Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve - Los Angeles County
- Malibu Creek State Park - Los Angeles County
- Rio de Los Angeles State Historic Park - Los Angeles County
- Huntington Beach State Park - Orange County
- San Onofre State Beach - Orange County
- Crystal Cove State Park - Orange County
- California Citrus State Park - Riverside County
- Chino Hills State Park - San Bernardino County
- Cuyamaca Rancho State Park - San Diego County
- Carpinteria State Beach - Santa Barbara County
“The Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup events are a wonderful opportunity for communities to come together and volunteer to beautify and preserve California’s state parks,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, President of the California State Parks Foundation. “Community participation in the Earth Day program is particularly important this year as state parks continue to face budget challenges that can delay these environmental improvement and maintenance projects.”
Individuals or groups interested in volunteering on Earth Day can call the Earth Day hotline at 1-888-98-PARKS or register online at www.calparks.org. A complete list of volunteer project sites statewide can be found on the Web site as well.
Presenting sponsor Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which is hosting 16 Northern and Central California sites, provided a $170,000 grant to CSPF and the participating parks for supplies and materials required to complete the Earth Day projects. Southern California sponsors include: Supervalu/Albertson’s, Edison International, Earthgrains and Coca-Cola.
2009 media sponsors in southern California include: KEYT-TV (ABC, Santa Barbara), KTLA-TV (CW, Los Angeles), Huntington Beach Independent, and Times Community News.
For information on California State Parks Foundation Earth Day 2009 Restoration & Cleanup events in Southern California, including park contacts, times, locations and other details, please visit www.calparks.org.
About CSPF
With 100,000 members, the California State Parks Foundation is the only independent nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing and advocating for California’s magnificent state parks. This year marks the organization’s 40th Anniversary. For more information about California’s state parks, visit www.calparks.org.
Editors, please note: Media interested in attending, covering or volunteering for the California State Parks Foundation Earth Day 2009 Restoration & Cleanup should contact Sarah Paulson Sheehy at (323) 466-3445 or at sarahp@cerrell.com. Images are also available.
Contacts:
Cerrell Associates Inc. for California State Parks Foundation
Sarah
Paulson Sheehy, 323-466-3445
sarahp@cerrell.com