1:40pm By Scott Jones | This Saturday morning, We Love Long Beach will host a free community breakfast at Drake Park from 9:00am-11:00am, serving the neighbors of this area with help from many local groups and individuals. We are particularly excited to invite you to this event because it marks our organization’s twentieth free community breakfast and fulfills the goal of serving our neighbors in each of Long Beach’s nine City Council districts.
Hitting this small milestone provides the opportunity to reflect on what we have learned, how we can use it and where our organization is headed from here. What it all boils down to – essentially – is that making a difference in our neighborhoods may not be as hard as you think.
As a whole, Long Beach is proud of its diversity. We celebrate it by discussing it, by touting its benefits to visitors and by writing about it in our fliers and brochures. But talking about diversity does not necessarily mean that we are practicing unity. Over the last three years, we have seen how the simple act of bringing people together can unify neighbors, and strengthen neighborhoods. It’s the process of “re-neighboring” our Long Beach communities and we would like to invite you to join us.
The success of We Love Long Beach is not measured by the same standards as some other non-profit organizations. We do not base our success on how much money is raised, or even how many people attend our breakfasts and other events. No, our success is measured by something that is, actually, not even quantitative. We Love Long Beach is successful when it creates and strengthens relationships. These relationships link neighbors, and then communities, and as they spread they create a sense of unity from one community to another. This remains true whether we host ten, one hundred or one thousand people at a breakfast.
The point is that the strength of We Love Long Beach is not in the organization itself, but in the people that it serves. It is simply our goal to learn about the community, identify the possibilities and then serve in the most effective ways we can dream up. We do not believe our communities will succeed because of one organization or political leader – our communities will flourish because of the strength and unity of the people within them. The power is, and always has been, with the people.
The past twenty breakfasts have been a learning process. They have taught us how to learn, how to listen. We have learned a great deal about the city of Long Beach and how We Love Long Beach as active citizen volunteers can serve. These are the virtues that we are facilitating in the We Love Long Beach student clubs at Wilson High School, Renaissance High School for the Arts and Cal State Long Beach, and we are excited and encouraged by their efforts to know, serve and foster relationships within their communities. We are growing as people and as an organization, and recognize that learning is perhaps the most important thing that we can do.
One of the products of this evolving education is our redesigned website, which features more than 100 non-profit organizations actively serving the city. It works as a two-way street – both to help civic-minded individuals connect with good causes, and to help support driven organizations find the assistance that they deserve. It is part of our effort to facilitate connections, bringing people together to serve others in the name of citywide unity, and we hope that you’ll take time to explore the site and the possibilities that it offers.
Because while we all may care a great deal about the city we call Home, we also may be hard-pressed for the time it takes to serve. Maybe you don’t know where to turn, or how to help. And that’s ok. Like we mentioned above, it may be easier than you think. To unpack the idea of “serving your community,” you needn’t be affiliated with We Love Long Beach or any other non-profit organization in order to be a good neighbor, or a positive member of your community. Take the time to embrace your neighbors, and spend time with them, and build a relationship. You never know what you might learn. With all of the gifts, passions and skills that you and your neighbors possess, there could be a whole university’s worth of knowledge living on your very own block. We can all learn from each other and our lives and neighborhoods will be better as we do. If you’re thinking that this all sounds simplistic, or even quixotic, you’re not alone. We are constantly defining and re-defining the goals and methods of We Love Long Beach based on our experiences – successes and mistakes alike. We’ve actually found a great deal of comfort with the practice of making it up as we go. Stepping out to connect with an unfamiliar person or group can be frightening. We were afraid at first too, but doing has produced courage. Twenty events later, it is a blessing to see it encourage others as well.
We live in an age of apathetic activism, where we are encouraged to cast a vote or click “Like” and then walk away feeling that our civic duty is done. We know that there are many of you out there who are seeking more. We look forward to meeting you, and your neighbors do, too.
If you would like to volunteer, you are more than welcome to do so and can contact us at [email protected].
If you would like to attend the breakfast at Drake Park this Saturday, you don’t need to contact anyone. You don’t need to fill anything out. You don’t need to live in the area. Just show up. As you connect yourself to your neighbors we hope you realize that, in itself, is an act of service. As simple as it is, that is what We Love Long Beach is all about.