COMMUNITY DEEDS OUTWEIGHING WORDS VOLUNTEER WORK HELPS HONOR MLK.Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer PACOIMA -- They honored his word by doing. At homes and parks in neigborhoods crumbling with neglect, schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school and teenagers awoke on a chilly Monday morning prepared to spruce up spruce up Verb [sprucing, spruced] to make neat and smart Verb 1. spruce up - make neat, smart, or trim; "Spruce up your house for Spring"; "titivate the child" their community to honor Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader who dreamed that one day, everyone would gather together to make a better world for all. ``We want to help out in the community because even though it's a holiday, it's a holiday that means doing service,'' said Ariel Morales, one of hundreds of volunteers who joined the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Conservation Corps and the Clean & Green Program. Sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with King's words, ``Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,'' Morales, 22, helped younger volunteers plant dozens of saplings at Pacoima Little League Park, trees that one day will provide shade on those hot summer days. ``We want a beautiful park, not a park of just dead grass,'' said 12- year-old Jesus Camacho, who along with friend Jorge Leon, also 12, shoveled through the hardened earth to make it ready for a young sapling. Monday's events also included the 22nd annual Kingdom Day Parade in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. and other volunteer efforts on a day dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. nationwide as ``A Day On ... Not A Day Off.'' About 500 volunteers participated in the revitalization re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. of Drew Middle School in the Florence area by painting civil rights-themed murals, planting trees and creating a Peace Garden. Since 1986, more than 20,000 young people have participated with the corps, which connects at-risk youths with service projects throughout their communities. On Monday, a group of them gathered at the Alicia Broadous-Duncan Multipurpose mul·ti·pur·pose adj. Designed or used for several purposes: a multipurpose room; multipurpose software. multipurpose Adjective Center for a pep rally, some warm-up exercises and the job assignments. Other teens pushed brooms and lawn mowers and raked up dead leaves for residents who were going through difficult times. ``I think it's one of the greatest things that anyone could have done for me,'' said Jonell Montgomery, a 66-year-old homeowner on Glenoaks Boulevard whose front and back lawns were trimmed. ``I've been sick these last few days, but I felt better when I saw all this,'' she said. ``It's just wonderful.'' City News Service contributed to this report. susan.abram(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Students from Sun Valley Middle School Sun Valley Middle School is located in Sun Valley, a section of Los Angeles, California, and is part of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). In April 1948, school officials announced that "the most charming of all the new junior high schools" in the Los Angeles system would clean up Jonell Montgomery's home in Pacoima on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (2) Jonell Montgomery, 66, is all smiles as students clean up her yard in Pacoima on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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