Save Our Shores

Save Our Shores engaged 10,873 individuals in its various outreach, education, and volunteer programs from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. Additionally, Save Our Shores reached greater than 20,000 people through the implementation of targeted, topic-specific social media outreach campaigns.Public Outreach & Advocacy: Save Our Shores held or attended 42 public outreach events, reaching 3,214 individuals. These events included both in person and virtual events such as Pollution Prevention Outreach, Waves & Wildlife, Family Science Nights, Blue Innovation, Ocean Film Fest, Santa Cruz Pride, and more.Virtual Outreach Social Media Campaigns: Save Our Shores created and implemented one targeted social media campaign to provide outreach to the community on pollution and waste-reduction topics. The campaign, Storm Water Stewards, was to inform City of Santa Cruz residents about ways they can prevent storm water pollution runoff from their properties. This campaign included branded images and videos which were posted on Facebook and Instagram, reaching over 20,000 people on social media.Ocean/Marine Education: Save Our Shores reached 1,490 students and 257 adults through our education programs. Many students were engaged multiple times through our three-part lesson sequences, totaling 2,391 student engagements. With the full return of in-person learning in 2022, SOS provided 57 educational presentations to 60 classes and 42 educational field trips to 59 classes. Save Our Shores worked with youth in 15 schools from 8 school districts throughout the Central Coast region. Save Our Shores also engaged with 8 high school students that participated as SOS Youth Advisory Board Members to assist in development of a new afterschool program, Junior Sanctuary Stewards.Beach, River, and Inland Cleanups: Save Our Shores engaged volunteers in cleanup activities throughout Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, including the return of Annual Coastal Cleanup Day in September. In total, the organization held 278 cleanups along beaches, rivers, and inland areas. 5,003 volunteers gave their time in cleanups. Altogether, these individuals logged over 11,445 volunteer-hours throughout the year at cleanup events and removed over 14,261 pounds of debris from the environment.