A grocery store chain and major cola company said today they are donating more than a half-million dollars for beach clean up, dune restoration, and recycling efforts at state park beaches in Southern
California.
Stater Bros. and local Coca-Cola bottlers announced that $566,425 was raised by their customers and employees for the "Care For Our Coast Campaign.''
Organizers said the campaign will pay for programs at some of the busiest beaches in the country, some of which have been overdue for nearly a decade.
The donation will buy solar trash compactors and recycling containers for Carlsbad and Malibu Lagoon state beaches this summer. At Huntington State Beach in Orange County, it will fund dune restoration along 2.5 miles of beach to be completed in 2011.
The funds will also go to bolster beach grooming and recycling efforts at all state beaches, to reduce contamination to marine life.
California State Parks officials said the funding will also fund improvements at San Onofre, on the San Diego-Orange county line, and at Bolse Chica in Orange County.
"The private sector commitment to preserve California State Park beaches will give millions of Californians a cleaner, safer summer,'' says Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks.
