California Volunteers and San Diego Environmental Leaders Engage Community in Day of Climate Action

Community Climate Action Day – San Diego and Annual Love Your Wetlands Day combine forces with California Climate Action Corps Fellows and hundreds of volunteers to fight climate change during county-wide day of service

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Today, California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday joined Mayor Todd Gloria, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, elected leaders, community organizations and  California Climate Action Corps Fellows and volunteers for a county-wide day of climate action.   California Volunteers, Office of the Governor partnered with the UC San Diego Natural Reserve System and San Diego Audubon Society’s annual  Love Your Wetlands Day to create a county-wide day of service to fight climate change. “Volunteers, fellows, businesses, and local and state leaders joined together today to take action against our greatest existential threat — climate change. It is a testament to the power of service to unite us and create real, lasting change,” said California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday. “California will continue to organize, lead, and engage our communities in climate action because we need everyone involved.” 

San Diego leaders join California Volunteers service members and volunteers at Community Climate Action Day – San Diego.

Love Your Wetlands Day is a once-a-year opportunity to explore UC San Diego’s protected Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve in Mission Bay while also learning about the importance of coastal wetlands, the climate threats they face, and the ways local communities are working to restore and protect them. Uniquely located in the densely populated urban area, Kendall-Frost Marsh is a valuable laboratory and popular component of the University of California’s Natural Reserve System, a library of ecosystems throughout California representing most of the state’s major habitats.

Hundreds of volunteers, including California Climate Action Corps Fellows, supported projects throughout the county focused on urban greening, organic waste and edible food recovery, and wildfire resiliency. Volunteers participated in community planting and wildfire prevention activities and built compost piles.  “Every level of government must take action on the climate crisis – and we at the City of San Diego are stepping up to do so,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “I’m grateful to all the volunteers who gathered to do their part during the city-wide day of climate action. When big cities like San Diego lead, others will follow. And where California leads, the world follows.”

California Volunteers service members and Chief Service Officer Fryday plant a native shrub during Community Climate Action Day in San Diego.

Community Climate Action Day – San Diego & Love Your Wetlands Day highlighted California Volunteers’ commitment to scale up to tens of thousands of service members and volunteers in the coming years. The event also showed the efforts of California Climate Action Corps’ fight against climate change. “This is a great example of what it’s going to take to save our birds and tackle our climate crisis — all these volunteers and community groups are taking climateactions and supporting tidal wetland restoration out here at Love Your Wetlands Day,” says Andrew Meyer, Director of Conservation at San Diego Audubon Society. “We all benefit when we reconnect to our wetlands. The opportunity to restore substantial carbon-sequestering marsh at this location, the last one percent of tidal wetland left in Mission Bay Regional Park, is a reminder that we need to take individual and collective actions in our city and our state. With California Volunteers, UC San Diego, and all our partners, we are taking those actions.”  During the event, hundreds of fellows and volunteers removed brush for wildfire resilience and planted trees to share actions residents can take at home to reduce their carbon footprint.  Love Your Wetlands Day volunteers went on guided bird walks and cleaned up trash around the marsh and Kumeyaay boat building. Governor Gavin Newsom launched California Climate Action Corps as the nation’s first state-level climate service corps with the mission of empowering Californians to take meaningful action to protect their homes, health and communities against the harshest impacts of climate change. The program is led by California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.  In San Diego County, 31 California Climate Action Corps Fellows have served or are currently serving with 13 host partners. From June 2021 through November 2022, the California Climate Action Corps: 

Planted, maintained or gave away 1,106 trees.
Diverted 5,600 pounds of food or organic waste from landfills.
Distributed 600 pounds of recovered food to people in need.
Engaged 629 volunteers in 2,751 hours of climate action.
Engaged 3,037 people in climate-related education and outreach.
Treated 42 acres and restored 13 sites for climate resiliency.
Supported the installation of 11 solar systems.

Additional Community Climate Action Day – San Diego & Love Your Wetlands Day partners included HandsOn San Diego, San Diego County Department of Parks and Recreation, San Diego City Department of Parks and Recreation, San Diego City Environmental Services Department, Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, Mundo Gardens, San Diego Canyonlands, Paradise Creek Educational Park, Qualcomm, Sephora, CGI, Intel, Verizon, and Rotaract at UC San Diego.

“HandsOn San Diego is honored to have been a part of the Community ClimateAction Day – San Diego,” said Lisa Lindgren, HandsOn San Diego Executive Director. “We only have one Earth and to be able to bring climate-oriented volunteerism to San Diego families enables us to strengthen our community through volunteer action. We believe that when individuals are actively engaged, the community is stronger and is empowered for the future.” Learn more at ClimateActionCorps.ca.gov or sign up to find a local volunteer opportunity at CaliforniansForAll.ca.gov. News Conference

B-Roll: Community Climate Action Days 

Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday Interview

California Climate Action Corps Fellow Interview

What others are saying:  “As stewards of Kendall-Frost Marsh, UC San Diego values this dynamic marsh region and the opportunities it offers to learn more about pressing environmental issues like carbon sequestration, wildlife cultivation and climate change in urban centers,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “We are proud to welcome visitors to Love Your Wetlands Day and appreciate the opportunity connect with our regional and state partners, demonstrate the importance of wetlands and celebrate this important regional resource.” “Our natural lands — especially our coastal wetlands — are treasures worth fighting for,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas). “Today is a celebration of community ownership and engagement, coming together to gain appreciation for the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve as a haven for native flora and fauna, as well as the essential role wetlands play in our fight against the climate crisis. Many thanks to UC San Diego Natural Reserve System, the San Diego Audubon Society, Mayor Gloria’s Office, California Volunteers, and other community organizations involved for making this inspirational event possible.” “Wetlands are an important underappreciated resource in the fight against climatechange. UC San Diego’s Natural Reserve System is grateful to have many partners to spread the word about how protecting wetlands aide in climate resilience. Love Your Wetlands Day is our biggest event of the year,” said Heather Henter, executive director of the UC San Diego Natural Reserve System. “Thanks to it coinciding with Climate Action Day we are thrilled to expand our efforts for trash clean-up, planting native vegetation and introducing more people to this unique habitat and the unusual organisms that call Kendall-Frost Marsh home.” “The 50th Congressional District is the proud home of the Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve, which is a valuable part of our local wetland ecosystem,” said Congressman Scott Peters. “I’m grateful for all the committed volunteers who participated in today’s county-wide day of service. I will continue to fight for climateaction in Washington, D.C. to ensure this natural resource is protected for generations to come.” “I’m heartened to see the community I call home come together in preserving the natural lands we get to uniquely refer to as ‘our backyard,” said Senator Catherine Blakespear. “As a parent who recognizes our children will inherit this world, I am committed to elevating policy that prioritizes environmental justice and preservation.”“Volunteers have been the most important factor in the preservation and restoration of Paradise Creek in National City, California. The work at Paradise Creek Educational Park has been led by an all-volunteer non-profit organization assisted by many partner groups, both big and small,” said Ted Godshalk, Paradise Creek Educational Park Inc. Director. “Community Action Day is a great opportunity to improve the habitat and pay our respect to what the habitat provides us day in and day out. In addition, we can all learn something through our own involvement, camaraderie, and stewardship.” “This is non-ceded territory; spiritually and culturally this area is very important to the Kumeyaay people,” said Dr. Stan Rodriguez, President of Kumeyaay College. “Having all our people, Kumeyaay and non-Kumeyaay, coming together, conserving and recharging the wetlands, is important because it affects all our communities.” “At Verizon, we’ve instilled environmentally-focused values into our culture with the continued support of our Green Team so employees can volunteer to make a difference in the communities of their choice,” said Dominique Cano-Stocco, Verizon Executive Director, External & Government Affairs. “Today, our employees are proud to join forces with California Volunteers, San Diego County, California Climate Action Corps Fellows, and so many others to celebrate the Community Climate Action Day as we work forward together to protect our planet for future generations.”

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Led by California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday, California Volunteers, Office of the Governor empowers Californians to take action to improve their communities. #CaliforniansForAll is a California Volunteers service initiative launched in response to COVID-19 to establish a volunteer corps to support the state’s response to emergencies and disasters.