treeplanting

treeplanting

Photo of tree planting in Naples courtesy of Studio-111blog.com

Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

This upcoming Monday will mark the federal holiday commemorating the work and words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For many, however, MLK Day is not just a day off, but rather a day marked with volunteerism and service, making it the only holiday designated as such.

Following the events that marked Peace Week—which culminates with the 25th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace and Unity Parade Celebration on Saturday—the National Day of Service seeks to honor the life and principles of Dr. King by organizing volunterr opportunities that give back to the community.

The City of Long Beach, GreenLB, the Office of Sustainability and Leadership Long Beach have banded together to create five community service projects for the day that they hope will make encourage people to “make it a day on, not a day off.”

“It is inspiring to see the community working together to create opportunities to serve,” said Leadership Long Beach Executive Director Jeff Williams. “Long Beach is a great city for volunteerism, we should be at the forefront in activities for the National Day of Service.”

Projects include (all events besides the last occur on Monday, January 21):

  • Fruit Harvesting to Benefit Food Banks (hosted by the Mayor’s Office)
    • 10 volunteers are needed to harvest fresh fruit from residential trees from 9AM to 11AM throughout West Long Beach. The fruit will be provided healthy and fresh produce to food bank clients. Volunteers are asked to bring closed-toe shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat, and sunscreen.
    • Due to limited capacity, you must call (562) 570-6801 to sign up.
  • Tree Well Clean-Up (hosted by the 1st District)
    • Volunteers needed to help clean tree wells along the north and south sides of 7th Street downtown, from Long Beach Boulevard to Alamitos Avenue. Tree wells accumulate trash, debris and weeds; clean-ups in adjacent alleys will occur if time is spared.
    • From 9AM to Noon, 10 to 20 volunteers are needed for this project; volunteers are encouraged to bring rakes and gloves while refreshments will be provided.
    • For more information call (562) 570-6919 or [email protected]. Day of, contact Isaac at (310) 648-2692.
  • Nature Trail Clean Up (hosted by the 9th District)
    • Over 100 volunteers are needed to help clean and restore the DeForest Park Nature Trails in North Long Beach from 9AM to Noon. Meeting at DeForest Avenue and Osgood Street, volunteers are encouraged to bring gloves and be reminded that they will get dirty; refreshments will be provided.
    • For more information call 562 570-6137 or [email protected]. Day of, contact Ricardo (562) 857-7751.
  • Community Tree Planting
    • 30 to 60 volunteers are needed to help plant trees and clean-up along the Wrigley Green Belt Park on DeForest, between Willow and 34th Street from 9AM to Noon. Volunteers are encouraged to bring gloves and shovels; refreshments will be provided.
    • For more information email [email protected]. Day of, contact Jeff at (310) 562-6665.
  • Neighborhood Clean Up (hosted by the 7th District)
    • This monthly neighborhood clean-up in Cal Heights Neighborhood need 20 to 30 volunteers this Saturday, January 19 from 9:30AM to 1PM. It will involve cleaning up 36th Street between Lewis and California Avenues. Bags, gloves and refreshments will be provided.
    • For more information contact Cal Heights Neighborhood Association contact Stacey Morrison at (562) 981-3257.