View Photos of Youth Beach Clean-Up
Kaua‘i Association youth and young adults helped collect 1,100 pounds of trash during a beach clean-up on May 27. View photos from the day and read the article below.
Kaua‘i Youth Clean Up Beach
Eight youth and young adults from churches across Kaua‘i helped collect 1,100 pounds of trash during a beach clean-up on May 27.
Before starting the clean-up at Donkey Beach on the east shore of Kaua‘i, the Rev. Alan Akana, Pastor of Koloa Union Church, offered thoughts about environmental stewardship. “I talked to our volunteers about how this is God’s creation and part of our job as God’s children is to take care of it,” he said. “That means not littering, but also cleaning up after other people who litter."
Strewn with debris from end to end, the beach needed a thorough cleaning, said Alan. Pitching in over the next three hours were members of Hanapepe UCC, Koloa Union Church, Lihue United Church, and First Marshallese UCC.
“The biggest thing we picked up was the remains of a boat that was folded in half,” said Alan. “We also filled up the back of two entire pickup trucks with fishing net and rope.”
Alan, who chairs the Kaua‘i Association’s Youth & Young Adult Committee, said several young people had asked throughout the year to do a beach clean-up. He contacted the Surfrider Foundation, which regularly organizes beach clean-ups, to be a partner in the event.
Alan’s son, Palani, 24, said he enjoyed meeting people from other United Church of Christ congregations and felt their hard work was worthwhile.
“I was amazed at how much trash washed up on the beaches,” he said. “It was really good at the end of the day to look back and realize how much trash we picked up. We all joined hands together to make the beaches a little cleaner.”
Since last summer, Kaua‘i Association youth and young adults have participated in six island-wide events benefitting the community and helping them connect with God. The next event will be a summer kick-off party for youth and their families in June.