Vote for favorite beach for clean up campaign

CARLSBAD — For those folks who love to soak up the sun or take a walk along Carlsbad State Beaches, they’ll have a special opportunity to vote for their favorite ones, and help three beaches in the state win funds to benefit a beach clean up.
Carlsbad State Beach and South Carlsbad State Beach, along with 25 others in the state, have been selected as possible candidates to receive funds from the SoCal Best Beach Campaign.
Beaches that receive the most votes will receive the first place prize $25,000. The second place recipient wins $15,000, with third place receiving $10,000. The funds may be used for beach clean up and maintenance and even for lifeguard assistance. Each beach will independently decide how the monies will be used.
Voting will run through Aug. 16 and the winners will be announced the very next day.
“The campaign is a contest where people vote for their favorite beach so it can receive funds and resources to help enhance the visitor experience at the beach,” said Clay Phillips, acting district superintendent at San Diego Coast District California State Parks. “In addition to receiving extra funds, the beaches that are ranked first, second and third will benefit from a volunteer clean up day on Saturday, Sept. 17, which could draw hundreds of volunteers to help preserve the beaches.”
The clean up events will be held in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Clean up Day, Phillips said. The day is open to the public so they can lend a helping hand towards a cleaner and safer beach.
There are a total of 63 state beaches in California, but for this campaign, 27 state beaches in Southern California were the focus.
Phillips said if Carlsbad State Beach were to win, they’d consider filtering funds towards their overnight camping facilities at the South Carlsbad campground to enhance the visitor experience. Another option would be toward lifeguard support.
Phillips said the beach list starts at Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego and travel as far as Morro Strand in Central California.
“In order to vote, people need to get a code, which can be done by shopping at Vons and Pavilions,” he said. “When consumers purchase $5 worth of Coca-Cola products, including branded soft drinks, Powerade, Fuze drinks, and Dasani water and use their Vons Club card, they will receive a code.”
From there, they’ll be directed to log onto socalbestbeach.com to vote for their favorite beach.
Phillips said that Vons/Pavilions and Coca-Cola have been wonderful supporters of the campaign, and who have provided the monies necessary to make improvements at the three winning beaches.
In addition to the financial support, each of these companies is urging their employees to volunteer on the clean up day.
California beaches are heavily visited year round, requiring ongoing maintenance, and in some cases, restoration.
“This is a fun way to support parks and at the same time, support your favorite beach,” Phillips said. “The SoCal Best Beach campaign also provides a really easy way to support parks when we need it most.”