Hands Across the Sand: Join Surfrider VC, Surfrider SB, and CFROG on Saturday May 15th to watch "Stories of the Spill” a 30-minute documentary that unpacks the impact of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Following the screening, an expert panel will discuss the current threats our counties face from oil drilling today. Grab more details here. This special event is part of Hands Across the Sand - an international coordinated day of action to say "Yes!” to clean energy and “No!” to offshore drilling - which will be held virtually this year.

Special Donation: For decades, the Channel Islands Marine Resource Institute (CIMRI) worked diligently throughout our community to promote education and the conservation of marine organisms and coastal habitats in southern California. The nonprofit sought to increase public awareness of our valuable coastal resources through restoration and education programs like Ormond Beach Native Plant Restoration and Oyster Restoration in Ventura County. Unfortunately, CIMRI recently made the difficult decision to windup its operations. In doing so, the Board voted to donate a significant portion of its assets to Surfrider VC. We are saddened by this news but also incredibly grateful for the donation which will be used to help promote our programs throughout Ventura County. Thank you CIMRI for all that you did!

Calling All Students: Care about the Earth? Like to write? Then send us your blue and green planet-inspired literary work! Surfrider VC is looking for creative poetry and prose submissions to publish in celebration of the environment. Submissions should be sent to treasurer@ventura.surfrider.org and include each student's: (1) name, (2) contact number or email, (3) school, and (4) most recent level of education.

Our Earth Month Membership & Donation Drive was a BIG success - bringing in over 30 new memberships and thousands of dollars raised for Surfrider! Congratulations to Carl Roe for winning the Yeti YR20W Cooler. Carl has been a long-time volunteer at our California Street cleanups and many other events. Oh, and did we mention that he drives all the way from Las Vegas to Ventura to help out? Wow! Thank you Carl and all those who entered for your continued support of our programs and campaigns!

Big news on the beach cleanup front:
Ormond Lagoon is officially 1 ton lighter!

No - that's not a typo. On April 22 & 24, two incredible groups of Surfrider and Coastal Keeper volunteers removed a practically incomprehensible amount of trash from Oxnard's treasured wetland. But there's still more work to be done. So we're headed back to Ormond Island on May 22 for another round. Sign up here to help out! A massive THANK YOU goes out to all those who participated and to the amazing team at Kirby Auto Group who once again stepped up to support our chapter and the Ormond Beach program!
 
REMINDER: We hope you'll join in and perform a solo cleanup of your own this month! It's simple: just follow Surfrider's Solo Beach Cleanup Guidelines, use the Ocean Conservancy's free Clean Swell App (record your data under the Group Name "Surfrider Ventura"), and don't forget to send us your photos. If you would like to have community service hours certified for school or work, e-mail beachcleanups@ventura.surfrider.org to receive your Certificate of Completion. 

Our HOTYB program has now installed over 100 Surfrider ashcans in the City of Ventura, ten in Port Hueneme, and two in Oxnard! We'd love to increase those numbers in Oxnard - and are asking for volunteers to help expand the program in the area. If you are interested in volunteering or sponsoring an ashcan, please contact Juli at julimarciel@gmail.com. As always, a big thank you goes out to our community's incredible commitment to this program, which has collected more than 450,000 cigarette butts in just over four years!

OFR Survey: Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill-out our survey at last month's fundraiser at Topa Topa. As a reminder, we are asking members of the community to share what restaurants they would like to see partner with our program. If you haven't yet filled out the survey (which takes less than 1 minute), you can do so here!

OFR Program Update: On May 18, at 6:30pm on Zoom, Surfrider will be hosting a meeting to announce new updates to the OFR program which we hope will help eliminate even more single-use plastic from the trash stream. Learn more here. Hope to see you there! And as always, if you're  interested joining our team, please email ofr@ventura.surfrider.org for more information.

On Saturday May 29 at 10:00am Ventura Water’s Water Wise garden series will hold a special class led by our volunteers! Come learn about the fundamentals and benefits of an Ocean Friendly Garden as you take a virtual tour to visit some of our certified gardens around Ventura. Best of all? Learn how to create your very own Ocean Friendly Garden! Learn more and register for this FREE class here!

The California Coastal Commission approved modifications to the Surfers' Point Managed Shoreline Retreat project at their April 2021 meeting. The amendments to the original permit reflect a revised layout of the parking lots and extend the cobble berm and vegetated sand dunes to merge with the promenade and recently constructed emergency revetment.  Notably, the permit will also require electric vehicle charging stations to be installed in the new parking lots. At the meeting, the Commissioners expressed concern over increased runoff from the proposed new asphalt parking lots, and added conditions requiring a Storm Water Management Plan and water quality monitoring. More info on this critical, ongoing project is available here.

Sponsoring a local HOTYB ashcan or hosting a team-building beach cleanup is a fun and meaningful way to make a difference in the community. Swing by the Surfrider VC Marketplace to sponsor yours today!

Ditch your plastic bags for cleanups and get your own Surfrider Ventura Solo Cleanup kit for just $20! Kit includes a bucket, collapsible grabber, gardening gloves, “Don’t Feed the Landfills” vest, and more. Thank you to Kirby Subaru for sponsoring these awesome kits. Email Cassie at info@ventura.surfrider.org to get yours while supplies last!