18th Annual Kids Ocean Day Screams “Kelp Us!”

It’s been eighteen years since the very first Kids Ocean Day, and this year’s event was the largest to date. On June 2nd, over 6,300 students along with teachers and volunteers from the Los Angeles area cleaned up Dockweiler Beach and formed a massive talking fish that said “Kelp Us!”

The 18^th Annual Adopt-A-Beach Clean-Up was made possible with the help of the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education, the California Coastal Commission, the City of Los Angeles and Keep Los Angeles Beautiful.

“The event was awesome,” said Miguel Barahona, a teacher at La Tijera K-8 School in Inglewood, whose students participated in the event. “Learning to take care of the earth is best when kids start young.”

Kids Oceans Day celebrated World Oceans Day, and is held at six locations along the California coast, extending from Humboldt County all the way to San Diego. Thousands of pounds of trash were collected by children at these locations. Check out some fun photos of the kids that helped out at Dockweiler Beach.

“Through our program’s efforts, the students learned how their actions make a very powerful impact on the world,” said Michael Klubock, the founder and executive director of the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education, which helped organize the day’s event.

Along with Michael Klubock, Cynthia M. Ruiz of the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works and Keep Los Angeles Beautiful, Adel Hagekhalil of the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Captain Charles Moore, Founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Jody Che, Marketing & PR Manager, Miss Me, made presentations to the students about the importance of the environment and the impact trash has on water, beaches and aquatic life.

Kids Ocean Day recently received a kind donation from Miss Me. These funds were used to pay for school assemblies and over 40 buses that brought children to Dockweiler State Beach. Whole Foods Market also provided lunch for all the volunteers.

“We’re here to keep the oceans clean,” added teacher Esther Lin of Hancock Park Elementary School. “We created the problem (of litter) but we can also solve the problem.”