Over 100 people patrolled the beach with trash bags in hand Saturday morning. These community members were custodians for the day and volunteered for Justin Rudd’s 30-Minute Beach Clean Up.
The 225th consecutive beach clean took place at 10 a.m. Feb. 17, and has been happening on the third Saturday of every month for the past 19 years. Rudd, an Alabama native, moved to California 22 years ago, and made his way to Long Beach two years later. A year later, he launched the beach cleanup to help eliminate some of the debris that routinely washes up on shore.
“I’m a runner, and I was running on the sand and noticed the large amounts of trash on the beach,” Rudd said. “I was tired of jumping over piles of trash, so I decided to gather some friends and tried to do something about it.”
Rudd began the nonprofit organization Community Action Team that enables him to do cleanups and several other service projects including: the Red High Heels Walk — a walk for heart health, Yappy Hour — an activity where volunteers read to animals at the Long Beach animal shelter and a poetry contest. These three activities occur regularly, and all happened to be taking place on Saturday after the beach clean.
Terri Genewich, a volunteer and avid supporter of Rudd’s community service projects, has been involved in these events for the last seven years.
“I wanted to help out because of the need and the adventure and the community,” Genewich said. “I think it’s very important to get families involved, and it’s always really fun to meet new people.”
All this debris comes from the Los Angeles River and the San Gabriel River, which eventually makes its way into the ocean and washes up on shore, according to Rudd.
Every month the event takes place, the organization provides trash bags, gloves, prizes, volunteer credit forms and snacks for people who participate in cleaning the beach. On a regular month, volunteers fill the 3-yard dumpster provided for the event.
“I bet if you scattered all the debris we’ve collected over the years, it would fill several football fields — several inches thick,” Rudd said.
Two other groups in the community who are not affiliated with Rudd’s organization also meet on weekends to clean the beach. On the first Saturday of every month, Surfrider meets at Ocean Boulevard and Termino Avenue from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and CleanLB meets the second Saturday of every month at the beachfront parking lot on Junipero Avenue at the same time.
Pat Hachtel, a Long Beach resident, regularly brings her three children to the beach cleaning events.
“I bring my kids with me to volunteer, even though they probably want to be playing video games, because it’s important to teach them to come together as a community, so we can help clean the beach,” Hachtel said.