The founding members of Heal the Ocean’s Junior Council have organized a beach cleanup Sunday along Santa Barbara’s waterfront — from the foot of Stearns Wharf to East and West beaches.

High school students from all over the South Coast who have joined HTO Junior Council clubs will gather to help with an important issue they feel strongly about.

“Every piece of trash needs to be picked up,” said Ben Kwock, HTO-JC founding member and a senior at Bishop Garcia Diego High School. “We can use all the help we can get at this beach cleanup to help provide a clean and safe beach environment for the Santa Barbara community.”

On Saturday, participants will meet at 2 p.m. at the foot of Stearns Wharf (East Beach side), with earliest arrivals receiving free Heal the Ocean T-shirts. The cleanup is expected to run until 4 p.m.

Every student interested in participating for community service hours must come ready to pick up trash — reusable gloves and pails are required to collect the trash (HTO will supply trash bags).

To raise funding for the HTO Junior Council, the Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. at the end of Stearns Wharf is offering a full 25 percent of all sales the day of the beach cleanup if customers mention the beach cleanup, courtesy of Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. owners Tom and Adam White.

Click here for more information about the Junior Council, or call 805.965.7570 or contact Junior Council programs director Megan O’Meara at megan@healtheocean.org.

— Hillary Hauser is executive director of Heal the Ocean.