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April 16, 2023
By Norma Williamson, SIAC President
Soroptimist International of Artesia – Cerritos (SIAC) is participating in the family-friendly Earth Day event on Sunday, April 23rd, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. sponsored by Cerritos Towne Center at its beautiful Fountain Plaza directly in front of Edwards Cinema. Children will be able to win two complimentary tickets to the Fleet Science Center at Balboa Park in San Diego. The total value of these two FREE tickets is close to $50. In addition, children can get a chance to win a children’s ocean-themed backpack and thermos by carefully coloring one or two pages (coloring pages and crayons provided) during the event and submitting them for one or two FREE raffle tickets. Ticket drawings will occur at 1:00 and at 2:00 p.m. Winner MUST be present.
By listening to a brief presentation, children and their families will learn about the dangers of ocean litter to marine life and the fishing industry. Guests will receive a small complimentary car litter bag with the printed slogan: “Keep Our Seas, Litter Free”. Did you know that 80% of marine litter/pollution comes from land sources via catch basins stenciled with the words: “No Dumping, Drains to Ocean”? Too often, this slogan painted on public sidewalks adjacent to catch basins is ignored by the public.
Soroptimist International of Artesia – Cerritos, 50 members strong and celebrating its 50th Anniversary, is part of a global network of organizations dedicated to empowering women and girls through education and helping to support them to achieve economic prosperity. Come learn about our work supporting women and girls. Did you know that half the labor force of the fishing industry are women who are too often unseen and underpaid? SIAC wants to highlight the importance of healthy oceans which provide employment opportunities to women in the fishing industry and feeds billions of people worldwide. On the other side of the FREE auto litter bag is printed the logo of Soroptimist and its tagline: “Investing in Dreams.”
Members of SIAC will be picking up litter on Towne Center Drive to bring attention to this growing problem of ocean trash. It has been estimated that by the year 2050, more plastic trash will be in the oceans than fish. California’s litter and pollution travel via circulating ocean currents and end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which contains floating trash debris and is twice the size of Texas. There are five giant garbage gyres worldwide: the North Atlantic Gyre, the South Atlantic Gyre, the North Pacific Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre, and the Indian Ocean Gyre. Let’s all do our part to keep oceans healthy and litter free! Come visit Cerritos Towne Center, Fountain Plaza on Earth Day, April 23rd, 12 noon to 2:00 p.m.
Thank you to our sponsors for helping make SIAC Earth Day Information Table possible: Fleet Science Center, Cerritos Target and Cerritos Home Depot.
