Meet Our Community: Jennifer Koga

As part of our seasonal spotlight series, we’re celebrating our incredible employees, partners, and volunteers who help make the work of Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful (KCCB) possible. In our Earth Day Blog, we talk about the ‘Ripple Effect’ and how all it takes is one person to inspire many to make a change in their community. Today we’re excited to introduce Jennifer, our cleanup, BioBlitz, and restoration volunteer at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful! Jennifer has discovered that the most important parts of working with KCCB have been seeing the level of ‘heart’ among all the volunteers and employees, the level of exposure that the events and cleanups draw from various groups of people, and a sense of fulfillment from making the environment a better place for everyone.

Role: Cleanup, Restoration, and BioBlitz Volunteer

With KCCB: For 3 years!

Jennifer at a Restoration Event

Fun Facts 🌟

• Happy place: Rancho Canada del Oro 🏞️ 

• Unusual creek sightings: Lobster cage, ATM, entire car 🚗

• Favorite hobbies: Birding, native plant gardening, reading fiction 🐦 📖

• Favorite place to eat: Thai Grata 😋

• Favorite color: Green, all the shades 🌈

When Jennifer was asked about one of her favorite places, she mentioned she loved Rancho Canada Del Oro. She said, “Oh, it’s gorgeous. It holds a lot of different ecosystems; it has gorgeous manzanitas…In the fall, you can see the tarantulas out trying to find a mate. Lots of wildlife, I love it.”

How It All Started 🌱

When Jennifer entered her retirement, she was ready to find something to do with her time. She discovered there were so many rewards by making the environment a better place that it led her to organizations like KCCB. 

She mentioned, “Every time I work with KCCB…[they] are really nice people with a good heart.”

Tabling at an Event for KCCB

The work isn’t easy, as Jennifer described. A lot of what folks do in the creeks can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Cleaning the creeks requires a lot of labor, but it's worth it.

“When I go to these volunteer events, the creeks are a horrible mess…so there’s a sense of fulfillment that we’re taking this stuff away from the creek and making it a better environment for the animals and creatures who live there,” Jennifer discussed.

Impact on the Community 🌎

The impact on the community is apparent, especially when you consider structural and systemic issues like the unhoused population who live along the creek and creek beds. Since the beginning of KCCB, working towards cleaning the creeks and supporting the unhoused population has been a regular occurrence. 

Removing Invasive Plants

Jennifer said, “There was an area where someone obviously had been there a while, and they had a wall where they created artwork…it was pretty impressive.  It was beautiful and amazing to see that somebody would create something artistic where they were living on the side of the creek.”

It's also essential to consider the impact of cities on the environment. By organizing different events for people in the community to engage in, it invites people of all different backgrounds and interests to get involved.

Jennifer said, “KCCB engaged a different set of the community in appreciating the life around them in natural areas [due to their partnerships]. I’ve seen them partner with other groups to do more than creek cleanups and, as a result, engage the wider community.”

Looking Ahead: The Future of KCCB ☀️🌳

KCCB is not just another organization that is working in the environment; it’s one of the many organizations banding together to make the world a better place. As Jennifer has learned, the heart we bring to our work matters, exposure to different things in our environment is important, and the gratification it brings by getting involved is essential to building a better community.

Jennifer Walking With Sam

If someone was interested in volunteering, Jennifer suggested, “If you enjoy contributing to planet earth and society, do it. It is exposing one to the grittier side of human nature…we are picking up trash and discards from people, and we’re also working on the creek.”

Final Thoughts ✨

“It has quite a wide array of different types of people. There are a lot of high schoolers….I like that they are exposed to this part of the city, what it looks like, and what we need to do to make it better. There are people my age and older who are there and everything in between. I really like the fact that multi-aged people are working regularly.”

If someone is looking for something new or needs a reason to get out and explore, beginning with KCCB is a great place to start.