Two very different entities share the same sign. They share a new Adopt-A-Beach sign at Seacliff State Beach.
St. John’s episcopal church is located close to Seacliff State Beach.  The Live Like Coco Foundation has its roots in a Watsonville elementary school, Starlight, which has a large Hispanic population.
The Live Like Coco Foundation, through the efforts of 125-150 individuals,  raised $5+ K to memorialize the life of Coco, a 12 year old who died in a car accident in 2015.  Coco, loved books, cats and numerous out of doors activities. Her parents in conjunction with Starlight Elementary in Watsonville, CA  raised money  to provide scholarships for extra-curricular activities. The Live Like Coco Foundation wants  Santa Cruz County children to have opportunities to experience various out of doors activities and ‘realize their dreams’.
The Live Like Coco Foundation plans a Beach Cleanup on Sat. July 18 at 9 am. Take a look on Facebook for up-to-date information on the Foundation.   For some general information click Here.
Both St. John’s and Live Like Coco share a strong interest in the education of youth and stewardship of the world’s resources.
For a $200 donation, various organizations can get their name and publicity on an  Adopt-A-Beach sign — with the proviso that they do several cleanups a year.
St. John’s episcopal held their second beach cleanup the day after Independence Day.
The St. John’s Publicity/Communications team thought  that Save Our Shores (SOS) personnel would bring equipment and tally sheets for the July 6 event.   SOS did not show and the church’s Senior Warden wrote that, therefore, the church was  not able to tally up kind and amount of beach trash gathered. A third St. John cleanup is planned for September.
Beach cleanups are popular at St. John’s. St. John’s has a long history of various enviornmental concerns and interest in protecting the earth’s resources. For example, at church functions they typically use pottery mugs instead of paper cups and, pre-Covid 19, did not use plastic.
Save Our Shores (SOS) was not amiss for not showing up July 6 at Seacliff State Beach with tally sheets and equipment.  The SOS  website states that all public events and all beach cleanups have been cancelled until future notice.
The app is readily available, easy to download to smart phones, and easy to use.  Whether or not COVID-19 is still affecting SOS sponsored Beach Cleanups in September the app can readily be used to tally up trash removal.
So — in planning the next St. John’s Beach Cleanup for September why not do it jointly with Watsonville youth connected with the Live Like Coco Foundation ? Both entities could do Beach Cleanup together, and then share hot dogs, pizza and tamales?  Socialize a bit? It would be easy, also, to include the youth that are part of St.John’s education outreach to Aptos Junior High. Just takes a little planning and outreach to the Live Like Coco Foundation. Nice way to remember and memorialize 12 year old Coco who would be age 17 now had she lived.
All lives matter.
written by licensed psychologist, Cameron Jackson   DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
