Pride of Buckingham - Volunteer Spotlight

Leticia Gonzalez

Leticia Gonzalez, her neighbor Robin Rose and their husbands, Paul and Ken, joined the City’s Adopt-a-Block Program in July of 2007. They recruited some of their neighbors to pick up litter in their neighborhood and named their group “Pride of Buckingham,” a reflection of the sense of pride and ownership they feel for their Buckingham Road neighborhood. Since then, their adopted area has grown to include parts of Chevy Chase Drive and Linda Vista Avenue. We asked Leticia a few questions about her experience volunteering for the program and her perspectives on being a Glendale resident.

Q: How long have you lived in Glendale & what brought you to the City?

A: I moved to Glendale over 15 years ago to further my career in real estate.

Q: What do you love about Glendale as a whole and about your neighborhood?

A: I love Glendale’s diversity, it’s historic architecture, convenient location to Los Angeles and my neighborhood is fantastic! It’s a small sliver of the “country” in the concrete jungle that is the Los Angeles metropolis. We have wonderful neighbors who share a sense of community and caring unlike any other I've ever experienced. We look after one another and appreciate our canyon, its beauty and wildlife.

Q: Why do you volunteer in the Adopt-a-Block Program? What made you want to get involved in this type of volunteer work?

A: We became volunteers of the Adopt-a-Block program because we believe strongly in its mission and purpose. Our canyon is very special and we wanted to maintain its natural beauty. If we all pitch in just a little bit it can make a bigger impact in all facets of our lives.

Q: How has your neighborhood changed since you started volunteering in the program?

A: There is a renewed sense of pride and community in our neighborhood since becoming involved in the Adopt-a-Block program.

Volunteers of all ages gathered for a neighborhood clean up.

Q: How do your neighbors react to your volunteerism?

A: They stood and delivered big time! Here was a group of people, with tremendous personal and professional responsibilities, that certainly had better things to do at 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning than sweep the streets clean of trash. We laughed and joked and learned new things about each other and insight into our neighborhood.

Q: You recently organized a neighborhood clean-up and several of your neighbors participated.  What prompted you to organize that event?

A: Bridget, Charlotte, Dariush, Dieu, Greg, Hugh, Jack, Kaitlyn, Mahtab, Tack, Tom and of course, Robin joined in and collected over 30 bags of litter! We made new friends, received compliments from other neighbors and got to see our community from a different perspective.   It was a way to reconnect with and engage our neighbors since they too share our love of  the uniqueness of our neighborhood. They care and it shows!

Q: Would you encourage others to join the program? What would you tell them?

A: Yes indeed I would encourage others to join the Adopt-a-Block program. Each of us can have a major impact on our communities by getting involved and doing our part. "A small stone may make only a ripple at first, but eventually it becomes a wave."

Leticia (center) and her neighbors armed with litter pick up tongs.

Q: What would you say to all the litter bugs of the world?

A: Well, “litter bug” is a far too polite description of how inconsiderate some people are…keep your trash to yourself! What’s most shocking about much of the litter in our area are the thousands of cigarette butts. Living as we do in a brush fire zone, we are appalled by the ignorance of drivers that toss their lit cigarettes onto our dry hillsides. We can only hope that their wanton carelessness doesn't cause a major fire especially during the hot, windy days of summer.

According to Keep America Beautiful (KAB) over 51 billion pieces of litter end up on roadways across the nation each year. The majority of that litter consists of cigarette butts. Leticia Gonzalez is one of dozens of concerned residents making a difference by participating in the Adopt-a-Block Program. For more information or to get involved in the program, please contact Karen Khukoyan at (818) 548-3700.

KAB Litter Fact Sheet