On Long Beach’s Pine Avenue, a group of locals is up to something different. They are not waiting for someone or something to solve their problems.
This gang of proactive citizens is the Pine Beautification Posse. They are taking some matters into their own hands. You can find them on the streets every Sunday morning.
Their leader, Carole Sergy, tells us what they do and how you can get involved.
“I've lived here for 15 years and it became apparent that the city wasn't taking care of the planters or trees. A group of us started watering the trees and the planters, and it just grew out of that. This was a way of getting people to care about the neighborhood. It's important for the neighborhood, but it's been really important for me. I don't want to live in an anonymous place where people don't know one another, so we're helping to engage people, and we're helping to make new friends and teach people how to do these things.
“Our biggest group was on Martin Luther King day of service which we do every year, and we must have had 12 or 15 people, and we have a rotating group of people who volunteer when they can. We've sort of partnered with Long Beach Downtown Long Beach Runners Club, and they've had some great volunteers that come out and help us, and they're very enthusiastic about our project, and you know, they show up.
“We're also becoming a group that people recognize that we're trying to reach out to all the neighbors, and one of the all the neighbors is the dog, so we have designated pet areas because we have a large dog population downtown, so we make sure that we leave room for our pets to potty, and I think that that's something that hadn't really been thought of before.
“The response to the community when we see people on the street, people just love what we're doing, and people who keep seeing us every Sunday say, “thank you for the work that you're doing.” But why, you know, we've been doing this for what more than a year, and now we're getting some funding from our councilwoman Mary Zandeas, gave us a budget to spend on tools and plants, […] so we're getting more and more recognition for the work we're doing.
“If I could ask for one great thing, I would just want more people to come out and volunteer. That we can make a larger group, so that every week we could do side streets. We could get more accomplished during our workdays. We meet at 4th and Pine, and we gather our wagons and tools, and we roll. Our summer hours are 10 to 12 because it's warmer, and in the fall and winter it's 11 to 1.
We believe in building a better Long Beach through community engagement. Carol and the Pine Beautification Posse are a perfect example.
Want to know more about Long Beach’s community initiatives? Reach out, and we will be happy to help you.
Pine Beautification Posse Instagram
Pine Beautification Posse Facebook page
Dunfee Real Estate Services
DRE # 02026232
