LOS ANGELES—California’s first official Harvey Milk Day, honoring the assassinated San Francisco Supervisor who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the state, will take place May 22. In celebration, Gay For Good (G4G), a Los Angeles-based volunteer organization, plans a day of service the group is certain Milk would have approved.
G4G members will restore and replant the Vermont Square Community Garden (4712 S. Vermont Ave.), one of more than 70 tracts managed by the L.A. Community Garden Council, which works to connect people with agricultural spaces within their own neighborhoods.
Founded in 2008, G4G is an apolitical organization that seeks to energize the LGBT community through monthly volunteer service projects with social and environmental welfare organizations. Working with agencies primarily outside of the LGBT community, G4G aims to build understanding and goodwill within the greater Los Angeles community, a spokesman said.
G4G “gives gay people a better outlet for our time and energies than the tired, stereotypical things that hurt the GLBT community and its collective image,” one volunteer observed. “I think this organization does more for the morale and [public image] of the community than any Pride parade, White Party or same-sex marriage rally ever could.”
Each month G4G selects a different community organization to support through a service project. Since the group’s inception, 16 consecutive service projects have been completed. From three founding members, the organization has grown into a network of more than 1,200 people in the Los Angeles area with chapters in San Francisco and Boston.
To make the May 22 event a success, G4G organizers are working directly with the Los Angeles mayor’s office, City Council member Jan Perry, the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust, the L.A. Community Garden Council, the Vermont Square Community Garden, F.A.I.R. and TreePeople. G4G members will work alongside volunteers from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, who will provide support for the project.
Past G4G service projects have supported the L.A. Food Bank, TreePeople, Lockwood Elementary School, West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, the Downtown Women’s Center, FoodForward, the L.A. County Health Department, Heal The Bay, L.A. River CleanUp, Animal Advocates Alliance and the L.A. Marathon.
For more information, visit the organization’s website, GayForGood.org, or its Facebook page.
