Reflections and Looking Forward

Dear Save Our Shores Supporters,

Since joining the Save Our Shores team in September, I have been overwhelmed by the love and support our community shares for our cause through volunteering, participating in advocacy campaigns, attending events, and donating the funds needed to protect the Monterey Bay – all in the midst of increasingly challenging times.

This past fall, I touched on the oil spill in Huntington Beach as further evidence of the need to end offshore drilling in the immediate future. As an active wildlife oil spill responder, I have responded to numerous spills on the California coast and would love to bear witness to the end of this detrimental cycle.

On behalf of Save Our Shores, I encouraged our communities to evolve beyond fossil fuel energy and asked our followers to support the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

A few weeks later in November, the world watched as global expectations set at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow set a low bar – we know we can do better! As December brought much needed rains to our area, we watched apprehensively and offered support while many of our community members faced flash floods and mudslides.

While our challenges continue, there are always individuals in our communities that band together to assist during hard times. Banding together and tapping into the inherent good we all possess, fosters resilience and hope!

On a parallel thread, Save Our Shores strengthened our commitment to bringing communities together in the pursuit of ocean/climate health and in offering actions we can take to mitigate the impacts of these environmental challenges. It is paramount that we band together to combat the detrimental impacts of ocean and climate change, and offer collaboration, solutions, and resources to the communities that need it most.

In 2021, we saw some of the pandemic restrictions begin to lift, and we were able to resume nearly 230 in-person cleanups. Our funded cleanup events are stop-gap solutions that offer us the important opportunity to plant seeds of awareness and offer a first step in taking impactful action.

The cleanups set the stage to help communities better understand the importance of ecosystem health and how we are all connected to the issues these ecosystems face. In our education endeavors, our fantastic team brought SOS marine education programs to nearly 973 students; engaging and connecting youth to the beauty and importance of coastal and marine ecosystems. 

To meet these ever-evolving times, Save Our Shores is in the process of revisiting our Mission, Goals, and Vision. We look forward to sharing these progressions with you as we evolve, adapt, and continue to strive for the greatest impact for the communities that need it most and work on stronger collaborative efforts between communities and conservation entities!

The Save Our Shore’s team and I sincerely thank you for your continued support! 

With Gratitude,
Erica