Ongoing effort is sponsored by the California Coastal
Commission
Staff Report
Gilroy – Mount Madonna School is staging its 22nd Annual Coastal Cleanup Day today from 9am to noon at the Debell Uvas Creek Preserve in Gilroy and Rio Del Mar Beach in Aptos.
The preserve is a 95-acre greenbelt and is maintained by the City of Gilroy. The acreage includes the area along Christmas Hill Park, near Gilroy High School, and west of Miller Avenue. A volunteer area will be set up in the parking lot of the park.
The public is invited to join the Mount Madonna School faculty. Gloves, garbage bags and safety instructions will be handed out to volunteers. But volunteers need to bring their own sunscreen and water.
The event is part of an ongoing effort sponsored by the California Coastal Commission to combat marine pollution. More than 50,000 volunteers are expected to show up for cleaning duty at about 700 locations throughout the state, according to CCC.
“We chose Uvas Creek because the creek flows into the Pajaro River which flows into the Bay and cleaning up the stream also cleans up the coast,” said Weston Miller, an eighth grade teacher at the private, nonprofit school, in a written statement. “Nearly 700,000 Californians have picked up more than 10 million pounds of debris from the state’s shorelines since the program began in 1985, according to the CCC.
Nestled among the redwoods on 355 acres, Mount Madonna School, founded in 1979, serves about 175 students from grades preschool through 12th grade. In 2004, the school opened a new middle and high school campus.
