LAWA HONORS “FRIENDS OF THE LAX DUNES” FOUNDER AYANNA NEAL FOR HER WORK IN DUNE PRESERVATION AND VOLUNTEER OUTREACH

Neal Earned a Girl Scouts “Gold Award” – One of the Organization’s Highest Honors – for Founding the Non-Profit in 2014

(Los Angeles, California – August 15, 2017)  In recognition of her dedicated leadership in promoting the health of the LAX Dunes – and by extension, the health of over 900 plant and animal species that call the Dunes home – Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) presented “Friends of the LAX Dunes” (FOLD) founder Ayanna Neal with a certificate of appreciation at today’s Trade, Travel, and

            "Ayanna Neal is an inspiring young leader who has already made a positive impact on her neighborhood by organizing volunteers to help restore coastal dunes near LAX,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose Council District 11 includes LAX.  “Ayanna's service and leadership have done more than protect the native plants on the dunes she worked so hard to restore – it has empowered hundreds of other young people to also get involved in their neighborhood. Ayanna is a true neighborhood hero, and I am very thankful for her great work."

“LAWA is fortunate to have so many people that share its mission of environmental stewardship and sustainability, but Ayanna’s efforts have really gone above and beyond the call,” said Samantha Bricker, LAWA’s Deputy Executive Director for Environmental Programs.  “By creating ‘Friends of the LAX Dunes’ and sticking with it from the start, Ayanna’s work has not only given LAWA and community volunteers a place to do great work, but reminds us that great things can be achieved through sustained hard work and dedication. The entire LAWA family wishes her the best of luck during her future studies, and wherever else she chooses to go.”

            “Since 2015, The Bay Foundation has proudly supported and promoted Ayanna Neal’s work at the LAX Dunes,” said Rod Abbott, Watershed Programs Coordinator for The Bay Foundation.  “Her leadership and service to the enhancement of the dunes is an inspiration to young and old alike. As Ayanna heads to college, she can rest assured that her hard work and advocacy for the dunes will continue and grow.”

            Neal’s involvement with the LAX Dunes began with her pursuit of a Girl Scout Leadership award, which she earned for supervising the restoration of a section in the LAX Coastal Dunes through the LAX Adopt-a-Dune program in 2014.  Later in the same year, Neal earned the Girl Scout Gold Award – one of the most distinguished awards in the Girl Scouts program – by founding “ Friends of the LAX Dunes,” (FOLD) a non-profit organization dedicated to habitat restoration in the northern section of the LAX Dunes Preserve.  Founding FOLD required Neal, then a high school student, to engage and network with community organizations and businesses, obtain sponsorships, and actively recruit the organization’s first set of community advisory board members, in addition to purchasing gardening tools and snacks for volunteers.  

Today, in conjunction with the Bay Foundation, FOLD coordinates monthly clean-ups where volunteers remove invasive plant species from a 48-acre area located in the northern portion of the LAX Dunes Preserve. The removal of these invasive species helps rehabilitate the Dunes’ health and stability for native plants and animals.  In 2016, FOLD’s efforts reached 467 volunteers, who removed over 10 tons of invasive plants (iceplant, Russian thistle, and Castor Bean) from the dunes across 17 events. FOLD will continue to host monthly volunteer events on the first Saturday of every month.

The next clean-up event, however, has been rescheduled to coincide with the state-wide Coastal Clean-Up Day event. This special event will be held Saturday, September 16, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Registration information for this event can be found

The LAX Dunes Preserve is the largest remaining coastal dune area in Southern California. The 307-acre preserve also supports the 203-acre El Segundo Blue Butterfly Habitat Restoration Area, which is located in the southern section of the LAX Dunes.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

           LAX is the fourth busiest airport in the world, second in the United States, and was named one of Skytrax’ 2017 Top 10 Most Improved Airports.  LAX served more than 80.9 million passengers in 2016.  LAX offers 737 daily nonstop flights to 100 cities in the U.S. and 1,386 weekly nonstop flights to 88 cities in 44 countries on 73 commercial air carriers.  LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion.  LAX handled 697,138 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2016. 

An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues.  The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

            LAX is also the second most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram according to wego.com. LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

For more information about LAX, follow on Twitter

@flyLAXAirport , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport , and on YouTube at

www.YouTube.com/laxairport1 .  Information about LAX’s ongoing multi-billion-dollar LAX Modernization Program, as well as tips and shortcuts to help navigate LAX during construction, are available