KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Grant Shields has lived in Kodiak for 27 years, but recently, he’s been getting a little frustrated with the amount of litter scattered on beaches and roadsides around town.
“I walk my dogs every morning, me and my wife. And we go to particular beaches where it’s great for the dogs, we’re early birds in the morning. Well now we bring a trash bag with us because we’re always picking up beer bottles, pop cans, shotgun shells, debris.”
But now Shields wants to call on Kodiak to help keep his home of almost three decades clean. As the broker and owner of Alaska One Realty, Shields decided to start a community clean up challenge, sponsored by his business.
“I would really like to do a little better job on keeping our beaches and areas around Kodiak cleaner. So I came up with the thought, take pictures of the litter in your favorite areas on Kodiak Island. I’m asking the community to roll up your sleeves, clean it up, then document with photos and a description of the clean up efforts.”
And if beautifying the island isn’t enough motivation Shields said Alaska One Realty is throwing in some additional incentives.
“We want to give out a $500 scholarship/tuition payment or U.S. savings bond for the best story and clean up efforts with the pictures. And then I’m going to give a $400 gift certificate for another good effort out there in cleaning up our island from Orion’s Mountain Sports. And they said they would generously throw in a 10 percent off of that $400 gift certificate. And then I’m going to do at least three $100 visa gift cards for folks that are out there.”
Shields said folks shouldn’t shy away from hitting the beaches multiple times in the next month. After all, they are allowed to submit as many entries as they want.
“You know what, they sure can. Why not. Let’s say yes.”
The Alaska One Realty’s One Who Cares Awards will be handed out in September. In the mean time, trash-collecting citizens can submit their photos and 150 word descriptions of the clean up to Alaska homes at G-C-I dot net until August 31.
