Brother and sister duo Scott and Robin Jones had been living in Belmont Shore for around 25 years when they realized they barely knew their neighbors.

They decided this had to change, and promptly printed out flyers and went door to door, inviting their neighbors to a breakfast that Saturday, complete with eggs, bacon and coffee.

Around 50 neighbors showed up that morning.

“We met more neighbors in one day than we had in our entire lives,” said Scott Jones.

The next month, the two decided to host another breakfast, and this time, around 100 people were in attendance.

The Joneses didn’t stop there; they continued holding neighborhood events, going on to host a 700-person event in Bixby Park.

“People really longed for connection and a greater sense of belonging,” said Jones. “Just giving people that opportunity and that encouragement and that excuse just to get to know the people next door to them … was just a transformative experience.”

After officially creating the nonprofit We Love Long Beach in 2009, the organization was able to expand to regular seasonal events. Apart from the breakfasts each winter, the nonprofit hosted ice cream socials, potlucks, and pumpkin carvings, all with the intention of bridging connection and creating relationships between neighbors.

In 2017, the organization even hosted the largest citywide event in the history of Long Beach, said Jones, in partnership with Long Beach Community Foundation. About 230 “around the table” gatherings were located throughout the city, anywhere from libraries, to the MOLAA, to people’s homes, all at the same time.

“That got at the core of what we were about, which is just getting people to hang out and get to know each other,” said Jones.

The nonprofit doesn’t focus solely on social gatherings—Jones has also promoted the “Play Streets” initiative, which strives to remove the permit fee for block parties (which comes out to around $150 for a couple hours, he explained) while providing a much-needed space for children to play.

“I went to school here, I went to college here . . . these are my roots,” said Jones. “My sister and I and our board, we’re invested in this place, we love this place. But we think this place can be better.”

While the pandemic stalled the plans for the initiative, Jones has hope for moving forward at the right time.

“That’s kind of the journey we’ve been on, is just really asking the question of what does it look like to create and sustain a joyful block or a joyful complex?” said Jones. “And how do we do that together, not as professionals, but as neighbors and in a mutual, collaborative way?”

When the pandemic made gathering on a large scale no longer possible, Jones knew that We Love Long Beach had to shift gears.

“It’s just been a time to reflect on just who we are as an organization, and what we’re about,” he said.

At the start of the pandemic, the nonprofit partnered with The Grand Long Beach to create a food delivery and pick-up for people experiencing food insecurity.

The organization raised its own funds and distributed about 1,000 grocery care boxes across the city, until it was impossible to fund any more, said Jones.

We Love Long Beach also paid 10 to 15 musicians to play throughout local neighborhoods, and the organization also provided cards in different languages on its website to print out and to give to neighbors.

But ultimately, a break was needed.

“I just think the heaviness of COVID made us really exhausted,” said Jones.

This March, the organization turns 14.

Jones is holding off on celebrating the milestone though—in May, he hopes We Love Long Beach will return with a neighborhood event, the first since before the pandemic.

“The goal would be a celebration of our city, on a citywide level,” said Jones, who is waiting to release more details until closer to the date, due to the pandemic.

Amid the uncertainty of the past couple of years, for Jones and the rest of We Love Long Beach, connection is as important as ever.

“There’s that saying, how do you eat a dinosaur? One bite at a time,” said Jones. “How do you love a neighbor, (or) care for neighbors? Figure out a simple way to say hello.”

To get involved with We Love Long Beach, email [email protected].