Carmel Cares leadership and volunteers are amazing! Working closely with the City, Carmel Cares takes on projects (including with the Forest Theater, Sunset Center, Downtown Detail, Scenic Pathway Restoration, Beach Pick Up Posse and many others) that contribute hugely to the repair, restoration, conservation and beauty of this extraordinary town and its natural resources. I strongly urge everyone to join this amazing and fun effort to keep Carmel-by-the-Sea beautiful, safe and inviting for everyone!
One of the best aspects of this 100% volunteer-managed non-profit is the sense of community the volunteers feel when taking part in beautifying our little village. Whether its planting around town, picking up trash or watering trees and plants, everyone has a great time! We truly appreciate everyone who chips in to help keep Carmel-by-the-Sea beautiful, safe and inviting!
I’m in my second year as a Carmel Cares volunteer removing trash from our beautiful beach. It is common for people to thank me for my efforts which happens, in part, because I am a white-haired senior citizen with a bucket. Once I was picking up some bottles near a family with small children. They watched me for a bit before joining in on “the fun.”
The photo below is of an area by the 13th Street steps. This was one of the biggest messes that I encountered this year. When I began putting the first bottles in my bucket a beach-goer saw me and asked to help. Together we got the job done.
I have been volunteering for Carmel Cares for a year. Carmel Cares is a true changer of the world. I work with Downtown detail and pick up posse. I really enjoy this program and as a high school student I think that it really brought out ideas to help improve the world one town at a time!
Communities offering desirable amenities, cleanliness and attractive landscaping can only be sustained by like-minded, energetic, committed volunteers that augment governmental efforts. Carmel Cares is an amazing community engagement organization for those who want to participate in making transformational improvements and understand that maintenance is key to preserving quality of life. Carmel Cares empowers the community and its volunteers to identify issues, submit solutions and generate plans of action in partnership with the City. As a volunteer with Carmel Cares for three and one half years, I am constantly humbled and grateful for my fellow volunteers who are enthused, reliable and committed to the idea that together, we —even through small efforts— make a huge difference and encourage more respectful actions from the public by creating well cared for spaces.
I joined Carmel Cares about a year ago. I had recently moved and I found it a fantastic way to meet new people while also making a contribution to the maintenance of this beautiful town. I love the camaraderie of our group and I love making time to care for our collective space. Carmel attracts people from all over the world because of its natural beauty but also because of the stewardship mentality of those who live here. As one of our young volunteers often says in response to the many thanks we receive on any given day, “you take care of what you love”. And so we do!
As a volunteer for Carmel Cares I am proud of the work we have done to make Carmel a better place to live and visit. My role is working downtown with other volunteers keeping the streets litter-free. We also collect cigarette butts and send them to TerraCycle to be recycled, rather than ending up in our landfills and ocean. The businesses and people around town have come to know our yellow vests and the results of our work. They have also become more active in their roles to keep out streets clean. It is great to see Carmel Cares and their volunteers have sent a positive message to keep Carmel beautiful, and that it has spread throughout our entire community.
I have lived in the village of Carmel by the Sea for 20 years and wish to express my gratitude and sentiments to this wonderful organization that beatifies our city. This group of people have revised our Scenic beach walkways widening them and smoothing them for comfortable strolling and have planted flowers along the way for the enjoyment. Likewise, they have found other corners and plots within our city to do the same. But what is truly amazing is the group of volunteers they have that stroll about the city picking up the debris left by others. This organization and the people involved clearly care about our city and demonstrate their love with their actions.
I lived in Carmel in the late 1960’s to late 1970’s and 5 years ago moved backed. I remember the Village being well taken care of and clean. Since the Pandemic things changed. Namely, the amount of litter that accumulated was shocking and the state of the gardens was unkempt. Right about that time Carmel Cares was formed and over these past 3 years the positive changes made by caring and dedicated volunteers had been nothing short of remarkable!!
And that’s just one aspect of what this organization does. From taking care of and refurbishing Scenic Pathway, creating pollinator gardens at the Forest Theater, maintaining medians, Carmel beach litter clean up, collecting and recycling cigarette butts. The list goes on…
Kudos to Dale Byrne, Shirley Moon and all the other Leaders and volunteers!! Carmel Cares is a stellar example of what can be accomplished when like minded, positive and hard working volunteers come together to create long lasting impacts on a community.
I am proud to be a volunteer with Carmel Cares!
Comments ( 1 )
CarmelCares 10/28/2023 Paul is an amazing volunteer for not just Carmel Cares but for other organizations in town.