Hundreds Pitch In to Polish Up the City

Southern Californians may rank as laggards in nationwide surveys when it comes to volunteerism, but Saturday’s frenzy of efforts by hundreds of volunteers showed the pride many Angelenos take in giving their time to scrub grime from buildings, slather fresh paint on walls and plant trees in once-barren landscapes.

In South Los Angeles, more than 400 volunteers spent the morning cleaning up trash and graffiti along a five-mile stretch of Western Avenue, from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Century Boulevard.

“This was to show the public that we do care, that we do have community pride,” said Brenda Robinson, one of the organizers.

“It felt good to give back to the community instead of taking,” said Howard Brown, 32, a resident of the Bridge Back halfway house. His hardest task: clearing the mess of rocks, garbage and cockroaches in front of an abandoned building near the corner of Western and King.

By 8 a.m. Saturday, Santa Ana Boulevard in Watts reverberated with the pounding of hammers and cheerful chatter of scores of volunteers who had gathered to build two houses as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of Habitat for Humanity, a Christian housing organization. Last year, 21 houses were built along Santa Ana Boulevard by the group’s participants.

“I’m overjoyed!” said a beaming Eneshia Greer, a 26-year-old divorced mother of two, as she watched workers construct what will be her new home next month. “I feel very blessed that all these people will come out and help build my new home.”

Downtown, on Olvera Street, volunteers and Los Angeles Conservation Corps workers made the area’s central plaza sparkle in anticipation of Los Angeles’ 215th birthday celebration next weekend at the site. Dozens of volunteers and Conservation Corps workers weeded, planted flowers, painted pillars at the Mexican Cultural Institute and washed windows. By noon, the sidewalks were spotless.

Speckled in yellow paint as she painted the plaza’s lampposts, Jessica Flores said improvements “will get people excited to come down here more” and will present a better image to tourists, who are among the 2 million visitors to Olvera Street each year.

Elsewhere downtown, at the Genesis I Dome Village for the homeless, volunteers affiliated with more than a dozen groups contributed to an ongoing effort to turn what was a debris-strewn parking lot into a more lush setting.