The Pacifica service club Mizpah Fellowship will honor Lynn Adams, president of the Pacific Beach Coalition, at its annual Tea and Craft Fair on Sunday.
“Every year, we designate a person or organization who has contributed to the community and made a positive difference in the lives of those who live here,” said Michele Trausch, who is serving as Mizpah Fellowship’s president this year. “This year, we chose Lynn for all she has done for the environment and for Pacifica in general. She truly has been instrumental in organizing and leading the local nonprofit Pacific Beach Coalition, which not only cleans the beaches and other areas of town but educates all of us to the importance of preserving the ocean, coastal habitat and wildlife.”
Trausch also praised Adams for helping turn the annual Earth Day event in Pacifica into a daylong festival that features entertainment alongside environmental education.
Mizpah Fellowship member Jane Gerughty first met Adams about 10 years ago. At the time, Gerughty taught biology and AP environmental science at Terra Nova High School. After hearing about the Pacific Beach Coalition, she invited Adams to speak to her students.
“Lynn came into my classes with all this enthusiasm,” said Gerughty. “It was when Terra Nova first got into cleaning up the environment and adopting creeks. We organized big beach cleanups and school cleanups.
“That was kind of when Lynn’s tribe was much smaller,” added Gerughty. “Now it’s gigantic.”
Aside from coordinating regular beach cleanups, Adams has been instrumental in launching several other initiatives at the Pacific Beach Coalition, including monthly habitat restoration events, team building and corporate volunteer activities, Adopt-a-Beach opportunities and toolkits for teachers. Another key program allows individuals or groups to organize cleanups and habitat restoration in their own neighborhoods, acting as “site captains.” High school students often step up to serve in this role.
“I think it’s really good for the teenagers and the young adults to have leadership experiences,” said Gerughty. “Then they go back and act as stewards for environmental issues.”
Founded in 1948, the Mizpah Fellowship is a nondenominational nonprofit focused on service. Its membership consists of women from Pacifica. The group supports various local organizations like the Pacifica Resource Center, Friends of the Library and the Sanchez Art Center.
The Mizpah Fellowship will host its Tea and Craft Fair from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 7 at Shelldance Nursery, located at 2000 Highway 1 in Pacifica. The event is free and open to the public. Various items, including an ocean-themed quilt, will be raffled off to raise funds for college scholarships offered to graduating seniors from Terra Nova and Oceana high schools. “I’m very honored, but it’s more important to me that the work I do is getting acknowledged,” said Adams. “Hopefully, other people can become a part of environmental solutions as well.”
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