Teenager Alanna Lipsky is holding a beach cleanup in Hull as the service/volunteer aspect of her upcoming at Temple Beth Sholom as she turns 13.
Because of the coronavirus, many synagogues have removed a service requirement from bat mitzvahs. However, Alanna still wanted to do a beach clean-up.
She explained that she was drawn to the idea because “I really like the beach, and when there is trash on the beach, it makes me sad.”
The cleanup will take place on Sunday, May 2, from 9:30-11:30 a.m.; the rain date is May 16. Careful planning went into the timing of the event, Alanna explained, “because we have to deal with the tides.”
Alanna’s love for the beach “just trickled down” from her parents, who “both grew up with a love for the beach,” said her mother, Dayle.
Dayle said the inspiration for the cleanup came from how she and Alanna had been planning to “do her theme for the bat mitzvah around the beach and sea life, and then it was a natural thought that we would do a clean-the-beach-day for her project.”
One perk of the project, taking place amid a pandemic, is its outdoor setting where transmissions are more unlikely and participants are socially distanced.
“We can do a good deed and people can be outside,” said Dayle, who reports that there has been a good response to her daughter’s initiative.
Alanna said the plan for the cleanup is that “most people are going to come and bring a few trash bags, and spread out on the beach, and clean up as much trash as possible.”
Trash bags should be brought to the soft sand at the B Street section of the beach where they will be picked up and disposed of by Corey and Rubin Marquez, of Emerald Earth Works, and Tony Graziano, of Graziano Waste and Disposal Services, who are donating their time and services to help pick up the trash.
Alanna and her family are from Mansfield but have a home in Hull. Alanna has been preparing for six months for her bat mitzvah, which will be in June in a ceremony that will take into account COVID-19 safety protocols.
“The rabbi will be in his office; the cantor will be in his home,” said Dayle. “Our immediate family in the sanctuary will have masks on, and the service will be on Zoom for our family and friends.”
