San Diego, CA
San Diego man is hoping to create positive ripples by making it easier to clean up parks
The spark for retired science teacher Gary Blume to start a volunteer trash pickup program came simply.
On a stroll through Liberty Station Park in San Diego in 2017, the bearded and bespectacled Blume saw garbage strewn about. It marred his mood.
“Seeing the litter kind of brought me down,” Blume said with smiling eyes during a recent walk through Allied Gardens Community Park. ”And then I just had the thought that I’m going to pick it up and throw it away and that made me feel better.”
When another person witnessed Blume’s civic act borne of frustration, and acknowledged it by thanking him, a seedling of an idea emerged.
“I realized that for them to thank me means they felt really good, which made me feel even better,” Blume said. “That’s when this whole thing came together.”
The experience motivated Blume to start the Total Altruism Project, which encourages people at San Diego parks to pick up trash by placing litter grabbing sticks near garbage cans.
“A person, if they’re walking in the park, can pick up one of these litter grabbing tools, pick up litter and put it in the net,” Blume said. “When they come to a trash can, they can deposit it.”
But probe a little deeper with Blume and the complexity surfaces. He reveals that the idea to encourage people to voluntarily remove litter from parks emerged just as he came to terms with a sometimes challenging relationship with his parents.
“I was looking at gratitude, and everything happens for a reason and following my heart, that’s what I did,” Blume said. “And there has not been one barrier on this whole project. Doors opened.”
Today, Blume has trash grabbers in four San Diego parks and has grand visions for the project.
“What I’m hoping is that word will get out and a large corporation will want to associate themselves with me and help me spread it throughout California, the U.S., and eventually the world,” Blume said. “I want people to realize that an individual person can really make an impact on the world by following their heart and doing good things. The smallest act of kindness, picking up a piece of litter, is having a ripple effect.”
He conceded that there are some people who are reluctant to pick up other people’s trash. But he adds there are many more who have “their heart in the right place.” Blume said as many as 15 groups have used the trash grabbers in one park in one day.
He himself still volunteers to remove garbage from parks, while he visits the spaces twice a week to make sure the trash grabbing tools are in place and working.
“It’d look pretty bad if I’m in charge of this and I pass the litter up,” he said.
He still feels the same excitement he did when he first started the Total Altruism Project.
“I get goosebumps all the time from just talking about it,” he said.
These days he even ponders how the trash ended up in the parks he visits.
“Sometimes when you go through a field like this and you find a bandage or a hair tie, and you kind of wonder, you know, what athlete was here and what happened to loosen it,” Blume said. “But it’s still litter.”
San Diego, CA
City considering cutting funding to resource center for those experiencing homelessness
Last week Mayor Todd Gloria released the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal budget. Protected homeless services is among his top priorities mentioned in the proposal. However, some of the reductions he’s proposing could impact thousands of San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Located on 17th and K Street, the Neil Good Day Center offers an array of services to nearly seven thousand people experiencing homelessness. The services include giving them a place to shower and do laundry, and connecting them to a case manager, among others.
“These are critical services that are helping people off the streets, but really better their lives and their health and their employment situation as well,” Deacon Vargas with Father Joe’s Villages said.
Deacon Jim Vargas heads Father Joe’s Villages, which runs the center. He said through their prevention and diversion strategies, they’ve managed to keep nearly one thousand individuals from falling into homelessness.
“So by helping them pay rent, or helping them with their utilities, or helping them to reunite with family,” Vargas said.
Right now, the city allocates at least $850,000 per year to the Neil Good Day Center, according to Vargas.
But the future and funding for these services are in limbo because of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts.
“The impact to those whom we’ve been serving the Daily Center would be very severe,” Deacon Vargas said.
In a statement to NBC 7, Mayor Todd Gloria said in part, “We must find more efficient and cost-effective ways to address this crisis and prioritize funding for programs that provide shelter beds and maximize resources to programs that place people into permanent housing.”
Since it’s still at a proposal stage, Deacon Vargas said it’s unclear how the city will decide to move forward.
However, Deacon Vargas said services would be significantly reduced because they would be forced to operate solely on a budget of about half a million dollars they receive from philanthropy.
“The hours would be cut. Some days would be cut. We would have showers that might be impacted because they’re given seven days a week and we’d close two days a week, then the showers would be five days a week, the case management,” Deacon Vargas said.
Deacon Vargas is certain of one thing.
He would like to continue offering services at the Day Center, even if the city goes through with the funding cuts.
“As we work with individuals at the Day Center and at Father Joe’s Villages, the community becomes healthier as a result of it,” Deacon Vargas said.
The budget also recommends additional cuts to homeless services, but does not give specifics as to where those cuts would be.
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San Diego, CA
Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
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