Park, Kodiak Island, Alaska

Community beach and trail clean up

Caring for Alaska

Caring for Alaska

Yearly since 2021, Kodiak KINDNESS has qualified for a Matson Caring for Alaska grant. KINDNESS, Matson and other partners such as Island Trails Network and Credit Union 1 team-up-to-clean-up Kodiak trails, beaches, roadways and recreation areas, encouraging our community to consider every day to be Earth Day. Kodiak KINDNESS helps babies grow into healthy children from the inside-out with good nutrition, and our Caring for Alaska collaboration helps ensure that the environment they live in is healthy from the outside-in! It’s a perfect partnership that we plan to keep as an annual tradition for years to come. Keep an eye out for “Sweep Into Fall” event details every year, usually in October.  

Previous Caring for Alaska Events

2025

Once again, we joined forces with Island Trails Network and Credit Union 1 to scour beaches, trails and roadways of trash over two days on October 9 and 10. Fifty-seven hardy volunteers (including 18 kids) hauled 3,180 lbs of trash to the landfill, including buckets of nails from beach bonfires (ouch...we don't want dogs and bare feet getting punctured!). We knew we were not going to beat our 2024 record...but we met our goal of reaching at least 3,000 lbs! Since 2021, our rubbish rebel crews have cleaned up 29,940 lbs of trash from the Rock! Check out the album and download photos if you wish!
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2024

Our collaborative 10-day event was a resounding success; in addition to rock-solid support from Matson, we joined forces with Island Trails Network, Credit Union 1, Kodiak Audubon, Leisnoi, Inc., Koniag, Inc., and Afognak Native Corp. Beyond anyone's expectations, 94 volunteers (and several trucks, trailers and tractors) hauled a whopping 20,180 lbs of trash to the landfill and Nick's Metal Recycling. Every day is Earth Day! We're not sure if we are ever going to beat our 2024 record...but we will try! Rock on Kodiak and THANK YOU to all you "rubbish rebels" who pitched in this year!
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2023

Beautiful weather and many community partners including 8 corporate sponsors brought 66 hard working volunteers out this year! On April 22 (Earth Day 2023) we scoured miles of beaches and road ditches, bringing 3,660 lbs of trash in 12 truckloads to the landfill! This was more than our two previous years combined. Thank you Kodiak!
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2022

The off-and-on Kodiak rain didn’t stop 34 hearty volunteers from showing up on April 23 (Earth Day 2022) to clean up Mill Bay Beach, the bike trail along Rezanof Drive, and the Island Lake hiking path. This year Matson loaned us powerful magnets to “sweep” the beach clean of nails from pallet fires, and we took extra care to separate out all the recyclables we could. We hauled more than 800 pounds of trash to the landfill and 10 extra-large bags of plastic and aluminum to Threshold Recycling.
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2021

On June 5, 2021, more than 50 volunteers showed up on a bright sunny day to don yellow safety vests and spend four hours hauling 2,120 pounds of trash out of the brush along Monashka Bay Road and at Pillar Creek and White Sands Beach in Kodiak. Volunteers disentangled all kinds of items from the brush and thickets along the road, creek beds, and beaches; everything from shotgun shells and broken glass to mattresses, appliances, old tires, and even a bed!
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