The Earth Day Clean Up Event:
Why Earth Day Cleanup Event:
Was a response to the extensive amount of illegal dumping that was occurring throughout the Imperial Valley as identified by the IVAN Imperial Valley Environmental Justice Enforcement Taskforce a committee of dedicated people made up of residents, environmental enforcement officers, and community leaders, such as CCV, that come to together once a month to discuss reports submitted to IVAN.(www.ivan-imperial.org) and environmental concerns .
Action:
To remove items that were blocking alley ways and hazardous for El Centro Community.
Our efforts:
To educate the public about importance of community engagement, provide a setting for other environmental regulatory agencies, and local environmental non-profits to provide resources to the community.
Earth Day Event:
On Saturday, April 29, 2017, 71 volunteers from both Brawley Union High School and Southwest High School, 20 exhibitors, and 10 partners assisted our Earth Day Community Cleanup Event. During the clean up our student volunteers fanned out across the commonwealth to participate in the Community Clean Up at Starkfiled in El Centro Cleaning up five alley ways and three empty lots beginning at Vine Street and finishing at Orange Ave. The volunteers cleared trails and empty dirt lots, picked up litter and trash weighing up to 3.75 tons as CR&R reported.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the students, exhibitors, and our partners Cal Recycle, CRR, the City of El Centro, IVROP, Costco, Sparkletts Water, Department of Toxic Substance Control, Associated Students of San Diego State University, Target, Home Depot, Stranger's Bar, Woman Haven, for donating your time and energy to make the El Centro community cleaner and safer for everyone.
I can attest that residents living near by who reported the issue several times on IVAN are forever grateful. Your dedication is testament to the high regard of all your commitment and work to inspire and help the betterment of our community. Your involvement, interest, and initiative is overwhelming unbelievable we would have not been able to overcome and triumphed without a true collaboration.