The first Lynwood Commitment on Saturday had a major impact.
Trash was picked along main streets, some of our senior citizens homes were maintained and a big wall at Lindbergh Elementary was transformed into a stunning piece of art.
Parents, their children, teachers and other community members gathered at 8 a.m., most wearing their lime green Lynwood Commitment tee shirts to spend the morning cleaning up the city under direction of Lynwood’s Department of Recreation and Community Services.
As Lynwood Mayor Jose Solache said, “The goal of the commitment is to show we are one Lynwood. Saturday’s event was a great start.”
The highlight of the day was what dozens of people did to a wall that is sixty yards long and eleven feet high. The mural is a tribute to aviator Charles Lindbergh—the namesake of the school.
Under the direction of Lynwood muralist Saul Casas, Junior (know as AmoeArte), residents used 15 gallons of latex and 118 cans of spray paint to bring the wall to life with the theme of “Soar to Success”–which is what Lindbergh principal Arturo Navar and his staff try to achieve with their students every day.
As Lynwood School Board member Gary Hardie said, “Walls in Lynwood are art—not boundaries.”
Mayor Solache says plans for another Lynwood Commitment day are underway.
By the way, not all the people who showed up to help were Lynwood residents. Four young men from the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity from nearby Cal State Dominguez Hills worked the morning.
Said student John Ruiz, “We saw the event on the Mayor’s Instagram and thought this was a great way for us to help the community.”
All in all, it was a great day.
As Pastor Rudy Rubio of the Reformed Church of L.A. said, “It showed the ethnic and generational diversity of our city.”
It did indeed.