On Jan. 20, the Rotary Club of West Seattle presented Erik Bell, the founder and driving force behind A Cleaner Alki, with the 2026 Patrick Sand Memorial Award. The award honors the late co-founder and co-owner of the West Seattle Blog. Created by West Seattle Rotary and now in its second year, the award recognizes a West Seattle community member who demonstrates initiative, commitment, and reliability.
Erik Bell received the award at a club luncheon at the West Seattle Golf Course. In presenting the award, Community Service Chair Mark Ward shared history of A Cleaner Alki and talked about Bell’s personal commitment to building community while cleaning and protecting the environment.
“Erik has rallied volunteers for cleanups and invasive plant removal at our beaches, in parks and greenbelts, beneath the West Seattle Bridge, and along highways, arterials and bike trails,” Ward said. “A Cleaner Alki partners with the City of Seattle to clean up encampments and illegal dumping grounds, and they participate in Adopt-A-Street cleanups in our neighborhoods.”
“Erik is everywhere all the time,” Ward continued. “If you watched the 2025 West Seattle Grand Parade, which Rotary sponsors, you saw Erik and A Cleaner Alki at the end, picking up litter along the parade route. He remains committed to Alki Beach, providing supplies at Block Drop stations for independent litter picker-uppers.”
Ward also shared information from Erik’s own 2025 year in review. A Cleaner Alki held 248 organized events with the help of 4,800 volunteer hours that collected over 68,000 pounds of garbage. Partnerships included multiple City of Seattle departments, schools, and nonprofit organizations such as We Heart Seattle, the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, and Puget Soundkeepers, as well as REI and New Balance, who hold “plogging” events (which means “picking up garbage while jogging”).
Ward added: “Erik’s vision for our community, combined with his energy, initiative, commitment, and reliability, makes him the perfect recipient of the 2026 Patrick Sand Memorial Award. Like Patrick, Erik always shows up. Please join me in recognizing Erik and applauding his amazing contribution to our community and quality of life.”
In addition, the West Seattle Rotary recognized Erik Bell’s achievements by naming him a Paul Harris Fellow. Named after the founder of Rotary International, Paul Harris Fellows embody Rotary ideals and demonstrate the spirit of Rotary’s principal motto: Service Above Self.
Since 1947, the Rotary Club of West Seattle has been a proud part of the West Seattle community and of Rotary International—a global network comprising more than 35,000 clubs, with more than 1.2 million members who believe in the motto “Service Above Self.” For more information, visit WestSeattleRotary.org.
