Coastal Cleanup at Hayward Regional Shorelines
Sep 17th, 2022
On Saturday, September 17th, Youth and Young Adult Ministry and CARP Bay Area participated in a coastal cleanup at the Hayward Regional Shoreline as a part of California Coastal Cleanup Day. In total, 38 people attended: 14 young adults, 8 parents, and 16 youth attended.
We kicked things off with an icebreaker organized by Joseph a'Beckett, a Young Adult CARP member, where he asked everyone to get into groups and share how their week was and what the most memorable service project they have ever done before was. After that, we listened to Kazuya-san, BAFC Assistant Pastor, give a brief guidance on the importance of service. Kazuya-san explained that the purpose of the service project is two-fold: to clean up the shoreline and to grow our character. By serving our community and others, we actually grow ourselves. We cultivate a heart of ownership over creation and develop a deeper sense of love for the things, and people, around us by performing service. So the service project goes beyond the actual service part itself--it is more for us.
After the guidance, we were then divided into groups and started picking up trash at the coast of the Hayward Shoreline. Each group ranged in age, so we had middle schoolers picking up trash alongside young adults, and parents picking up trash alongside guests. It was a wonderful time for our community to intermingle.
After about two hours or so of picking up garbage, we gathered back and reflected in our groups about our experience. Kazuya-san asked us to rank the service project from a scale of 0-10, 0 being that you would never do this again, to 10 being the best experience of your life. Many people gave 8-10's! A lot of us were in agreement that in addition to the great feeling you get after doing service, what made the service project even more enjoyable was the opportunity to get to know new people and the experience of being out in nature. The weather was spectacular and the cool breeze of the wind provided respite when the sun started to come out.
Overall, it was a terrific service project for everyone that attended and it was great for our community to grow closer together!
Report by Yuuki Tanaka, Young Adult
Photos by Keanu Wright, Young Adult, Youth Ministry Leader
