Cesar Chavez Day celebrations in Salinas

This Monday marks Cesar Chavez Day nationwide but some people are already celebrating in his honor on the Central Coast.

Since 1999, a Cal State Monterey Bay group called Return of the Natives has been restoring native habitats. On Saturday the group took to Cesar Chavez Community Park in Salinas for a big trash cleanup. The idea is to honor Chavez and the Salinas community by cleaning up the park and weeding certain areas to allow for natural plants to grow.

“Not everywhere is as clean as maybe where you’re from. So I think it’s sort of cool to bring that to under-served communities to pick up trash and help them out and to make sure their parks stay beautiful. So that’s really important to me and really opened my eyes,” said Erin Coffey with Return of the Natives.

The cleanup was to commemorate Cesar Chavez’ commitment to social justice and farm workers’ rights.

On Sunday in Salinas “The Life of Cesar Chavez” will be shown at Maya Cinemas. The movie premiered nationwide on Friday. It chronicles Chavez’s life and struggles as he worked to create the United Farm Workers of America. He led thousands of farm workers in non-violent protests, marches and boycotts.

A special movie screening will be held on Sunday at Maya Cinemas in Salinas at 4:00 p.m.

The National Steinbeck Center will hold a fundraising red carpet cocktail reception after the movie.