On May 2nd, Earth Team interns from Arroyo and San Lorenzo High School met at De Anza Park in Hayward for a creek cleanup. Also in attendance were students and teachers from Winton Middle School, MLK Middle School, and Stonebrae Elementary. Since this was the first restoration event for many of the younger students, Earth Team interns were excited for the opportunity to share their skills and help guide the group throughout the day. This event, hosted by the Friends of San Lorenzo Creek and the Alameda County Clean Water Program, aimed to reduce the amount of litter and large debris polluting the creek habitat.
After a quick morning briefing and breakfast, everyone got right to work. Students broke into small groups equipped with grabbers and buckets to evaluate the needs of the creek and begin removing waste. Each group also completed a litter survey sheet provided by the Clean Water Program to help monitor the types of trash found in the creek.
As groups returned to the meeting area with full bags, waste was sorted by the Friends of San Lorenzo Creek team. By the end of the day, volunteers had removed 20 bags of landfill waste, 5 bags of compost, and 1 bag of recycling from the creek area.
In addition to collecting smaller litter, some interns joined the Friends of San Lorenzo Creek team to tackle larger debris in the waterway. Together, they successfully removed 7 shopping carts and several pieces of discarded furniture from the habitat.
Throughout the event, Earth Team interns demonstrated leadership, teamwork, and environmental stewardship while mentoring younger students and introducing many of them to restoration work for the first time. Events like these help interns continue building skills in communication, collaboration, and community engagement while making a direct impact on local ecosystems.
As a bonus treat after the cleanup, students had the opportunity to make their own smoothies using the smoothie bike!
Leaving the habitat better than we found it has always been the most rewarding aspect of these cleanup events. We were lucky enough to see some Great Egrets return to the creek when we were done for the day!
Thank you again to Jennifer and the Friends of San Lorenzo Creek for your continued support of our interns. A huge thank you as well to the Alameda County Resource Conservation District and the Alameda County Clean Water Program for funding and supporting this important work.
