ASTRA club models good works

Imperial Beach is a better place thanks to a major clean up conducted by the Southwestern College Astra club. And Astra club members said they feel like better people for having done it.

Astra, sponsored by the Altrusa International, Inc., organized the clean up for north side of Imperial Beach. There was lots of work for everyone.

Tonetta Webb, 39, psychology and business management major, said she was disappointed by all the trash on the beach.

"Typical," said Webb. "People are just lazy and I don't think they realize it's a real problem."

A few members of the Astra club are local residents to Imperial Beach and were motivated by the activity because it is the beach they come to the most.

"You've got to clean up and take care of where you live," said Toni Gibson, 47, a journalism major.

Gibson's daughter Brieanna, 19, a child development major, and friend Suzette Vidaurry, 19, civil engineering major, agreed and said the beach was primarily covered with plastic, forks, spoons and straws.

"I would say 95 percent of the trash was preventable," said Vidaurry.
"We all know that there aren't trash cans on the sand so people need to just bring their own bag for their trash."

Club member Andrea Cameron, 24, undecided, said she was not surprised by all the trash on the beach and her message to beach-comers would be for each person to keep track of themselves and their trash.

"To the people who aren't throwing away their trash, they need to be more considerate," she said. "They probably don't realize that it affects them too and that they should really take responsibility for their own actions."

Astra had15 members at the IB clean-up to help pick up trash.

"I like that it gets me active in school stuff, active in the community and out of trouble," said Vice President Dominique Gibson.

Altrusa International was founded in 1971 and has formed several sub-groups like Astra to get young people involved in community service and rewarding volunteer work.