Jack Johnson could be described as the North Shore’s favorite son. He grew up on the beach in front of Pipeline, surfing and playing music with his friends and brothers. When he “hit the big time”, he started giving back to the community by advocating for sustainability. In the process he started organic gardens at Sunset Beach Elementary School and reached out to Hawaii’s children with his Recycle, Reduce & Reuse program. He also is reaching adults with his Kokua Foundation and Festival. When it became known that one could get a pre-sale ticket if they participated in a beach clean up, I marked my calendar and showed up at Goat Island by 9:00AM on the appointed day, there where also clean ups at 3 other locations. The Kokua Foundation Team and Surf Rider Foundation where there to give out supplies and record names. An estimated 300 people showed up on a Saturday morning to volunteer to clean up one of my favorite Summer time surf spots, Maelaekahana Beach. Although, I pick up trash everyday while teaching surfing lessons, I could not but help think what a wonderful lesson Jack was teaching all of us. For me it was the sheer number of tiny, tiny pieces of plastic on the sand. I shudder to think of how much of it I have added with my rate of consumption. Thanks Jack – don’t ever stop being Jack.
Kokua Festival 2010
The Kokua Festival will be April 23 – 24, 2010 at the Waikiki Shell on the Island of Oahu. Tickets go on Sale via Ticket Master February 20, for Hawaii residents and February 21, for the rest of the world.
Beach Clean up volunteers.
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