On Saturday Feb. 9 the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District hosted a volunteer clean up of garbage and debris in Isla Vista.

Residents of Isla Vista, UCSB students and members of Gaucho Christian Fellowship broke into street teams to clean up trash in I.V. and nearby beaches. The event was co-sponsored by GCF and directed by Phil Reynolds of the IVRPD.

“Our goal is to celebrate beauty and togetherness and spark some community awareness,” said Reynolds. “If people are out there cleaning up the garbage, they’ll be less likely to litter themselves.”

The clean up was part of a year-round plan sponsored by the IVRPD which includes the Adopt-a-Block program in which volunteers adopt and clean a block of Isla Vista throughout the year. IVRPD also sponsors quarterly clean ups of the I.V. community.

GCF held a barbecue for volunteers following the clean up at Goleta Beach.

“I’ve been here four years and I just wanted to get back to I.V. and help clean the community,” said Sarah Hauptman, a senior history major and member of GCF.

The twenty volunteers from GCF focused on blocks of Sabado Tarde Road and Del Playa Drive because they feel these are the streets that get littered on and abused the most.

Joe Bergesen, a sophomore physics and Russian major, said “we just wanted to help out the community and have fun doing it.”