April 18, 2010
Yesterday while in Westwood Village, I saw a group of UCLA students painting defaced bike racks, cleaning up sidewalks, removing old Christmas lights, planting flowers, and many other civic duties one wouldn’t usually associate with “College Life.”
While I may not know how many participated in their call to civic duty, I did see many groups of 3-4 college students helping the community since I saw them block after block.
Dressed in bright blue T-shirts, the project was part of the WOMP!
The first-ever Westwood and UCLA Volunteer Day in Westwood Village, co-sponsored by the Westwood Community Council and the UCLA Volunteer Center took place on Saturday, April 17th.
I was moved as I overheard two UCLA nursing students asking a homeless man about his health, inquiring about his medication.
Meanwhile many students were painting trash cans, sweeping in front of commercial buildings, and busy removing the always ubiquitous graffiti.
Starting at 8:30am (pretty early for a Saturday morning) the student volunteers were treated to a continental breakfast provided by the NINETHIRTY restaurant located at the nearby W Los Angeles Hotel. They then received their T-shirts from Urban Outfitters, baseball caps from the UCLA Volunteer Center, knapsacks from Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, bottled water from Ace Beverage Co., and fresh fruit snacks sponsored by Westwood Village Farmers’ Market.
They worked until 12:00pm, and were then rewarded with a lunch hosted by Napa Valley Grille.
From what I could see and heard from the students, they were having a good time and helping the community at the same time.
It doesn’t get any better—doing well and doing good is a goal worth emulating.
