When Folks Reach Out

I often praise the Crescenta Valley and what a privilege I feel it is to live here. And though for me reminders are generally not necessary, they often pop up nonetheless.

For example, on Saturday I spent a sticky afternoon at the Crescenta Valley Park county building, working with the members of the Prom Plus Club at Orange Fest. Hosted by CV Alliance and its Youth Alliance, the day began at 2 p.m. with an expo designed for parents. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Glendale Police Dept. cadets and 3-2-1 Acting Studio were on hand to talk to parents about their organizations. Whether it was the temperature or the time of the expo, not many adults showed up and I was concerned about the success of this inaugural event.

But at 4 o’clock the expo was transformed from being adult centered to being kid centered. Whereas the adult expo was more “just the facts” kind of event, the kid centered expo was fun – and man did the kids come to have some fun! After getting a passport-type document at check-in, they poured into the county building to visit the various displays. In addition to the organizations represented at the adult expo, the kids had the chance to visit with reps from Merle Norman Cosmetics – Montrose or throw on some costumes then have their pictures taken in a photo booth. A live DJ was playing some age-appropriate tunes and shaved ice was waiting for the kids outside.

After getting a certain number of stamps on their passports, the kids were able to go to the Slammin’ Sliders food truck and get a free meal before making their way to the carnival. The idea was to engage the kids with CV Alliance, the community and each other … all for free. That’s right. CV Alliance was able to utilize funding and volunteers to host this event that I’m sure left a lasting – and positive – impression on local youth.

Then on Tuesday morning, I made my way to the Alex Theatre in Glendale for a meeting hosted by the Glendale Educational Foundation. The GEF took the opportunity to roll out its new initiative that focuses on robotics in schools and also engaging students in the arts. GEF has a rich history of relationships with local businesses that can help move these initiatives forward. I’m proud to say that CV Weekly has had a long-standing relationship with GEF and it was exciting listening to the organization’s future plans.

It was not lost on me that both the Orange Fest event and GEF organization are grounded in volunteers. Volunteers created the Orange Fest event then manned it and oversaw its launch. GEF has an all-volunteer board on which sits some of the most prestigious citizens in our area.

And these aren’t anomalies. On Friday I attended the fourth annual bingo game benefitting the local American Legion and VFW posts run by – you guessed it – volunteers. And on Sunday Mary O’Keefe took some of the Prom Plus Club kids and volunteered at Heal the Bay.

We are a community that is strong in its volunteerism and thankfully we have many chances to flex those muscles … and there’s always room for more folks to sign on.