0:01

LAist and Show and Tell present

0:03

In Evening with Fran Leibowitz. Author,

0:05

journalist, and social observer will take

0:07

the stage Wednesday, September 25th at

0:10

the Multibon Theater. Tickets and information

0:12

at laist.com/events. On

0:15

Inheriting. Growing up on Guam,

0:18

Leilani Wihangi Santos was taught the

0:20

US saved the island, but the truth

0:22

is much more complicated. What

0:24

her family's Chamorro history and stories

0:27

reveal. Listen to Inheriting

0:29

from LAist Studios and the NPR network

0:31

wherever you get your podcasts. Hey

0:35

y'all, we're back with another episode of How

0:37

Not to be Lonely in LA series. This

0:39

is How to LA. I'm Brian De Los Santos.

0:42

Today we're talking about giving back to

0:44

your community through volunteering. With

0:47

all of our super busy lives and

0:49

schedules, especially in a fast-paced city like

0:51

LA, making

0:53

the time to do community service might honestly

0:55

seem like the last thing on your priority

0:57

list. But it turns out the

1:00

act of donating your time to a cause

1:02

is a really great way to connect and

1:04

meet people. And giving back

1:07

really helps address those feelings of isolation

1:09

or loneliness that can creep up. Producer

1:12

Megan Botel will take it from here. All

1:19

right, I'm walking into Growing

1:21

Hope Gardens here in Santa

1:24

Monica. It's behind this pretty

1:26

big apartment building. Kind

1:28

of looks like you're just walking into

1:31

a parking lot for the building. Oh,

1:33

but here on the left, there's this

1:35

beautiful big green space. Hi,

1:39

I'm Megan from LAist. Nice to meet

1:41

you Megan. We have an

1:43

elderly couple that comes here

1:45

every afternoon with

1:53

their tea. And they sit down

1:55

and they watch the kids run by after school to

1:58

go play with the bunnies that are still there. sleeping

2:01

and they've made it their daily happy place

2:03

to come here share tea and watch

2:06

children and pollinators and humans connect. What

2:08

are you doing over here? Mulching,

2:10

mulching. My name is

2:13

Carolyn Day. I'm the founder and executive

2:15

director of Growing Hope Gardens. We're

2:17

a local LA based nonprofit

2:20

that empowers low-income community to

2:23

grow their own food and

2:25

take stewardship of the space that they grow

2:28

food on. So we're on

2:30

a quarter acre piece of land

2:32

that a year ago was just

2:34

an unused lot. Since then we've

2:36

welcomed 300 volunteers, 400 participants,

2:41

and basically this is a space

2:43

where people can come

2:45

to plant food, harvest, grow

2:47

soil, grow community.

2:51

Carolyn started Growing Hope Gardens in 2019 and

2:54

they currently run about 15 community

2:57

gardens at various affordable housing

2:59

residences throughout the city. This

3:02

plot of land we're on today had been

3:04

abandoned for more than 50 years until

3:07

last year when Growing Hope transformed

3:09

it into their first urban farm.

3:12

So it's a food and educational

3:15

and wellness urban space. And

3:18

Carolyn says those who choose to volunteer their

3:20

time is what makes all of this possible.

3:23

We have two volunteering days on

3:26

Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 to

3:28

noon. And we also

3:30

have a Wednesday afternoon which is

3:33

reserved for food distribution. Volunteers often

3:35

are asked to water. The space

3:37

is hand watered. They can learn

3:39

to prune fruits and go prune

3:41

fruit trees right away, plant

3:44

seedlings, transplant seedlings, seed planting. And

3:46

we also encourage people to harvest

3:48

what they need for the day

3:50

when they're visiting the farm. This

3:53

is also a beautiful space for

3:55

instead of taking a walk in the park go

3:58

take a walk at your local

4:00

urban farm. They always need a hand. So

4:04

I'm gonna be honest and I'm not

4:06

proud of it. I

4:08

haven't volunteered my time or done

4:11

any official community service probably since

4:13

I just graduated college when I

4:15

worked for a big corporation that

4:17

organized some charity events. I

4:20

really loved doing that but as life has

4:22

gotten busier throughout the years I haven't prioritized

4:25

getting out there on my own. But

4:27

while reporting this series about loneliness and

4:29

learning about the ways to connect and

4:32

soothe feelings of isolation, the

4:34

idea of volunteering kept coming up. So

4:37

today we're gonna spend some time in this

4:39

urban farm. But first let's

4:41

talk about why giving back

4:43

can be such a good thing. One

4:53

of the most positive and

4:56

kind of low social

4:58

risk ways to start to

5:00

try to stitch yourself into the

5:02

larger community is by volunteering. This

5:05

is Kat Moore, director of belonging at

5:07

USC and our resident loneliness expert for

5:10

this series. And that's a

5:13

really broad term. I don't know what comes

5:15

to mind when you think of that. I

5:17

think of Habitat for Humanity or picking

5:20

up trash in the park, those sorts of

5:22

things. It can look a

5:24

million different ways but the

5:26

idea is that you're just recognizing I

5:29

don't yet feel connected but

5:32

I know I could make myself

5:34

feel connected by doing this act

5:36

that puts my body in a

5:38

posture of service. And that

5:40

brings up in you all of

5:43

the power, like potential power that

5:45

you have to create the

5:48

community that you live in, to co-create it and

5:50

not just feel powerless and like you're

5:53

waiting for people to come and make you

5:55

feel like you belong. So it's

5:57

something that has an immediate sense of impact.

6:06

It's really interesting when you get

6:08

a bunch of humans who don't

6:10

know each other in a volunteering

6:12

situation, all of a sudden they have

6:14

a shared goal and a shared activity that I

6:17

think facilitates communication. It gives them

6:19

a shared purpose and mission and

6:22

I think it's a

6:24

really good way of making friends

6:26

and getting to know people. Hi,

6:28

I'm Iluna Varro with Growing Hope

6:30

Gardens. I'm

6:37

the farm and garden team coordinator.

6:39

I coordinate the volunteers, I coordinate

6:41

the various staff members. In my

6:43

previous job I was a tech

6:45

support analyst. I've been

6:47

doing network administration and most

6:49

of the time I found myself working in the

6:52

basement. This is much different than a basement where

6:54

we're at. Yo, it's a 180. My

6:57

father was a landscaper and I

7:00

would help on the weekends and in the summertime

7:02

and I hated it because I just

7:04

didn't want to be a landscaper. I didn't want anything to do.

7:07

But as an older person now, I

7:10

realized, wow, he had the coolest job in

7:12

the world. I think in general people want

7:14

to be part of something that's impactful and

7:16

it's good for their communities. And

7:18

when you do good, like volunteering your time,

7:21

lending a hand, you walk

7:23

away with saying, you know, I feel good about

7:25

it. Sometimes doing

7:27

good can be addictive. And

7:31

so the more good you do, the more you

7:34

engage with your community and you realize,

7:37

wow, you know, I feel good. When

7:47

you're volunteering, you're also putting

7:49

yourself among other people who share a value

7:52

for volunteering, which means they

7:54

care about something outside of themselves. And

7:56

you're using your body. So volunteering as

7:58

opposed to donating. like,

8:01

sure, donate too, but your body's not in

8:03

the game. You're not seeing someone's face. You're

8:05

not doing a shared task that has a

8:07

point and a mission. It

8:10

also broadens the kinds of people

8:12

that you can connect with, because

8:15

volunteering often will bring

8:17

intergenerational elements, people from

8:19

different areas of the city or areas

8:21

of the neighborhood. So you get to

8:23

know a broader group of people. This

8:26

is also part of altruism literature and

8:28

all the kindness movement, random

8:33

act of kindness and things. It

8:35

straight up in your brain releases dopamine.

8:38

You kind of are also

8:41

affirming for yourself that I am

8:43

the kind of person who

8:46

is generous, who cares about

8:48

others, who gives. And

8:50

that's a very positive, empowered

8:52

kind of way of being in your

8:55

life. And so you're

8:57

in like a posture of knowing

8:59

you have value and a

9:01

gift to give with your time

9:03

and your energy towards helping others

9:06

with no strings attached. So it

9:08

feels good to be

9:10

good and to do good. If

9:12

you have low self-confidence or that kind of

9:15

thing, it can give you a boost that,

9:17

no, I can make a difference. I just

9:19

made that person smile. I just gave that

9:21

person food. And then you can also build

9:24

up kind of muscle memory

9:26

and a habit of

9:29

doing good so that it becomes a

9:31

reflex. Part of the food service? I

9:33

think so, yeah. Hi,

9:42

my name's Alex. I've been volunteering about two

9:44

months. It's been a really cool experience. It's

9:46

been really great to see like your hard

9:48

work and your harvest as it grows on.

9:51

And then I was hooked. And here I am.

9:55

After I'm still energized, I feel like I

9:57

can accomplish anything. I feel like

9:59

I've been like more. friendly and like just

10:01

like talking to strangers because like I didn't

10:03

know anyone coming here prior so I feel

10:06

like this where I'm like going to stores

10:08

like Trader Joe's or like farmers market I

10:10

feel like a more chatty and like more

10:12

friendly I even brought my grandpa who is

10:14

like a little older so I wanted him

10:16

to make more friends around his age and

10:19

he's definitely enjoyed it so

10:23

yes so I've done it before but not for

10:25

a while this

10:27

particular case these pets were just weeded but there's a

10:29

couple new weeds coming up so tell them this is

10:31

kale this is a pepper plant

10:34

that's lavender everything else

10:37

could go so in this case next

10:39

to the kale there's like

10:41

a little grasses some

10:44

people want to just come in and you know just be

10:46

part of it and they might just

10:49

want to something as simple as water right other

10:51

people come in with the idea like they want to do something

10:54

that's gonna give them a workout so in the past people just

10:56

want to get their hands in the soil and weed water

10:59

maybe sow some seeds and

11:01

they come back later and realize oh I

11:03

was part of this this seed

11:05

that was sown is now small

11:08

seedling right and they

11:10

sometimes they take ownership of that and

11:12

they say I'm gonna come back I want to follow the progress of

11:15

this plant so where they they might sow a

11:17

seed come back nurture

11:20

that seedling transplant onto the

11:22

ground maybe even stairs to

11:24

the harvest and see

11:26

the whole life cycle that plan and I

11:28

think that gives people an interesting

11:30

perspective and connection to how

11:32

the food system is we'll

11:38

be right back after a quick break I

11:48

am Sasha Koka host of the

11:50

California report magazine every week

11:52

we bring you stories about what connects

11:54

us in the giant diverse Golden State

11:56

because what happens in California changes the

11:59

world I love this place. We were

12:01

once seen as like the place to

12:03

be California. The land of

12:05

milk and honey, that's where you go

12:08

to Sunshine State, but we just have

12:10

challenges right now. KQED's California Report magazine.

12:12

New episodes drop every Friday, wherever you

12:14

get your podcasts. LAist

12:19

and Show and Tell present an evening

12:21

with Fran Leibowitz. Be part of the

12:23

live audience as one of our most

12:26

insightful social commentators takes on current events.

12:28

This is Leibowitz off the cuff. The

12:30

evening will also include a book signing

12:32

after the show along with an audience

12:35

question and answer session. It's Wednesday, September

12:37

25th at the Ricardo Montalbonne Theatre in

12:39

Hollywood. Tickets and information at las.com/events. This

12:50

is How to LA, I'm Brian De

12:52

Los Santos and you're listening to producer

12:54

Meg Botel at Growing Hope Gardens in

12:56

Santa Monica. So they're really small, they'll

12:59

get pulled out, but if they're already starting to

13:01

flower, they let them be so they can finish

13:03

up their cycle. Yeah, they

13:05

are. My

13:08

name is Jaden and I'm 16 years

13:11

old. I've always sort of like

13:13

been interested in sustainability in the environment, that

13:16

sort of thing. And so I actually

13:18

started doing this last summer. I was looking for

13:21

volunteer opportunities with my dad because I'm

13:23

also going to college soon. This was

13:25

one of the first results that popped up. So

13:28

after that, I just sort of spent, you know, every week here

13:31

and doing that again this summer. It's a

13:33

very social space. It has a

13:35

lot to offer in terms of, you

13:38

know, talking to members of the community

13:40

and just in general making connections. My

13:44

mood obviously, it becomes better when I'm here, to

13:46

say the least, because it's sort

13:48

of like it takes me out of the sort

13:50

of bubble that I live in. It also just

13:52

gives me hope in general for the future, hope

13:55

for people, hope for our communities,

13:57

our society, our planet. There

14:00

are people out there willing to put

14:02

in work and do what's necessary

14:05

to care for our environment and

14:07

that sort of thing. So it's

14:09

very sobering in a sense. We

14:16

have our compost pile. We

14:19

have what we call a fork. If

14:23

you go and have a positive experience

14:26

building a house with habitat for humanity,

14:29

that's now in your memory, those experiences,

14:31

those faces, it's in your body, it's

14:33

going to be more likely for you

14:35

to open the door for someone at

14:37

the cafe. So

14:39

it's going to spill over and become kind

14:42

of a habit of paying attention to the

14:44

people you're around and starting to look for

14:46

opportunities to whatever,

14:49

put a sticker on someone's hand when they

14:51

leave a store. I've

14:53

done that at the end of workshops. I've just

14:56

put heart-shaped stickers on people's hands and you'd think

14:58

you just gave them a hundred dollars. So

15:01

it sort of starts to train your

15:03

mind to be looking for ways

15:05

to be helpful. And when

15:07

you're approaching people like that, it's

15:09

a very warm

15:12

and positive opening

15:15

towards connection. So if

15:17

people see you coming at them with a

15:19

sticker or a free muffin or an act

15:21

of service, they're going to be

15:24

poised to want to be kind back to you. So

15:26

it's a good way to lay groundwork

15:29

for forming relationships. CASA's

15:33

volunteering also just provides context

15:35

to your life. It

15:37

can really just reorient your mind

15:39

to focus on something else, which

15:42

might make your problem seem a little bit

15:44

less overwhelming. It keeps you

15:47

expanding and broadening

15:50

rather than when you're in pain, you

15:53

start to get tunnel vision and recede

15:55

into yourself and into your feelings. And

15:58

so when you're volunteering, you're going to be able to do that. tearing, it's

16:00

teaching you that yes,

16:02

my pain is real, but

16:05

it's not the only thing happening in the world. And

16:08

I can do other things despite the

16:10

pain. So it's kind of teaching you

16:12

that you're not in a permanent state.

16:14

What you're feeling right now that's overwhelming

16:16

isn't all that there is to your

16:18

life. And it's not the final

16:20

thing about your life. If

16:26

you feel good about something, you're bound to

16:29

absorb it and then ripple it back out

16:31

in your community and your family and your

16:34

friends. How have

16:36

you seen that ripple out in your own life? Oh,

16:39

after I leave the farm, I'm so

16:41

much calmer and I'm more in the

16:43

moment because you come here

16:45

from the urban blight and

16:47

you can sit down by a sunflower

16:49

that is blowing in the wind and

16:52

has pollinators and butterflies and bees on

16:54

it. And it just kind of brings

16:56

you back in the moment. You

16:58

kind of stop worrying about the past

17:01

or the future. I

17:03

think the adventure of volunteering and

17:05

not knowing the people that you're going to

17:07

be paired with or exactly the job you're going

17:09

to do and having the

17:12

certitude of knowing you did something

17:14

good for someone else. I

17:16

think that's part of self care. That

17:27

was producer Megan Botel speaking with Kat

17:29

Moore from USC and the folks from

17:31

Growing Hope Gardens. If

17:33

you're inspired to get your hands dirty in

17:35

some community service, we've got a list of

17:37

some great organizations around LA in our show

17:39

notes. Whatever cause you care

17:41

about, there's a group in need of

17:43

some help. Alrighty y'all,

17:45

thanks for listening. See you later in the

17:47

week. Bye. Support

17:51

for this podcast is made possible by Gordon

17:53

and Donna Crawford, who believe that quality journalism

17:56

makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

18:00

On Imperfect

18:23

Paradise After being deported, Daniel

18:25

Samora tries to remake his life in

18:27

a border town. I thought that by

18:30

being so close to the border, at

18:32

least I could have some of my

18:34

own life back. And

18:36

it was just the stupidest thing that

18:38

I missed. Pop

18:40

tarts. Real pop tarts. How

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do you make sense of home when it's

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gone? Subscribe to Imperfect

18:47

Paradise from Alleah Studios, wherever

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