Long Beach is a city with strong community pride, and if you’re looking to be a part of that, the person you should talk to is Scott Jones. Jones, his sister Robin and Adam Ferry are the creative minds behind We Love Long Beach, a non-profit that has hosted several community breakfasts and BBQ’s in the past year, as well as other community events. Recently, We Love Long Beach was named one of five finalists for a national Community Building award by Neighborhoods USA for their efforts to form relationships among community members.
“In the end, it’s those relationships, those connections, those people that make this event,” says Jones. “That’s what it’s all about.”
This Saturday, they’ll host another of their famous barbeques from 1:00pm-5:00pm at Marine Stadium Park. I sat down with Jones for a breakfast interview at Kafe Neo on 4th & Temple, to discuss the upcoming event, the importance of community involvement, and his ultimate vision for We Love Long Beach.
What should people expect to see at this weekend’s community BBQ?
The main thing is that there will be three bands, a girls roller derby where the girls from Long Beach go against the girls from Orange County – who knows how that’s going to pan out (laughs). A group called the Bro Futurists is going to build one of those metal children’s domes out of wood as a community exercise. It’s about people coming together and building it together. Kids will have gumdrops and toothpicks to build their own dome, learning about math through the shapes. It’s kind of educational as well.
We’ll also have a team that comes out to teach kids how to do art, and ten non-profits, like an “NGO Row.” The point is that most people in Long Beach can’t name three local non-profits, so our desire is to help local non-profits get their word out there. I’m really excited about that, just to begin to build relationships with local non-profits, and allow people to have a place to connect with them and get to know what’s going on in that area of serving.
The Fire Department is going to cook tons of hamburgers, Vitamin Water is sponsoring all the waters, and everything is free. We’ll also have a raffle. The main point is that we’ll have welcomers. I try to look at this event as my living room, so when people step onto the grass, my desire is that they feel welcomed, accepted and loved as if it was their living room. So every person will get a nametag, and we’ll have welcomers showing them around and things like that. Those are the types of things I like – I’ve never been to a barbeque where you get welcomed with a nametag. A name is so important to relationships, and that’s a major aspect of what we’re doing.
The Fire Department cooks up some burgers at the last event. They’ll do the same, free of charge, on Saturday.
Why would a person who doesn’t usually attend these events want to attend this one?
They live in this city. They’re a citizen, and a neighbor. It’s not just about whether they want to come or not, I think there’s also a responsibility and desire to have relationships with our neighbors. To love our neighbors, to trust out neighbors. The reality is that it’s a fearful thing to do. But in the end, some of the best things you can do are the scariest things. For me, it’s not “Come because it’s a We Love Long Beach event.” It’s “Come to meet your neighbors with the hopes of serving and caring for each other in the future.” We want to build a city that we really truly want to live in. And We Love Long Beach can’t do that if people are sitting at home.
What are the ultimate goals of these barbeques and breakfasts that We Love Long Beach hosts?
The desire is to have a breakfast for every neighborhood, so wherever you are you can ride your bike and get breakfast that’s put on by your neighbors. You can get to know them, serve alongside them. You can also talk about issues in your neighborhood, things that need to be changed. So that’d be the goal: to create these environments where you’re running into the same people and join forces for the common good of the city. That might look like a book club, that might look like a barbeque or a beach clean-up with Justin Rudd. My thing is, as long as people are getting together, that’s the key. And that’s success to me. Are people building relationships? Are people learning to serve each other? That’s what gets me excited, and moves me to the very core of my being.
How much of your drive has to do with you being a Long Beach local?
(Ed note: Jones was born here and graduated from Wilson High)
I love this city. I want to love this city more than anyone else in the city, and I want everyone to have that same mindset. It’s not I Love Long Beach, it’s We Love Long Beach. It’s what we do. It takes a neighborhood to bring change. It’s not Scott Jones, its just a city. It’s citizens. It’s neighborhoods.
The We Love Long Beach BBQ will be held from 1:00-5:00pm this Saturday at Marine Stadium Park. The event is free.