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A community comes together for clean-up |
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By: BRIAN ECKHOUSE - Staff Writer – The Californian
QUAIL VALLEY ---- Just nine months ago, Rita Peters fretted that the end of resource center Project LIFT was near: Funds were drying up, and the owners of the building she leased were looking to sell.
Since then, county officials have pledged to cobble together block grants and redevelopment funds to help buy the sloped 2.1-acre lot at Goetz and Juanita roads in Quail Valley. And instead of tearing down LIFT's headquarters to allow for new businesses or a handful of new homes, the building and surrounding grounds are being beautified.
The beautification efforts began in earnest early Saturday morning, as several employees of the Albertsons in Sun City and a few dozen athletes from area high schools arrived to remove the blight from the edges of the property: three years' worth of overgrown weeds and untrimmed trees.
Peters, LIFT's founder and executive director, stood atop the hill, observing the 40-plus volunteers, mouth agape.
Tears trickled down her face as she realized that LIFT isn't just staying ---- it seemingly is being institutionalized.
"This is the only connection children here have to education," Peters said of LIFT, which was founded more than a decade ago. "There's the language barrier for so many of them. So many of them are poor. This here is the key for them ---- the key to their future."
Quail Valley resident Marcos Gonzalez, 14, used to be tutored at LIFT. Now, he is a student-athlete at Paloma Valley High School, playing on the Menifee school's junior varsity football team.
"I like it out here," said Marcos, as he dug into hardened earth Saturday, trying to remove the deep weeds. "I come out here often - my little cousin recently had a party here."
By midday, flowers donated by Hines Nursery of Bonsall were being planted, said Peters, a Menifee Union School District trustee.
"Before (Saturday) ... you wouldn't have seen a thing from up here," she added. "You couldn't see the street because the tumbleweeds were so high."
Tons of tree branches and weeds filled the huge trash container on the site ---- and then some.
"We figure we'll overcut, so it'll keep you good for a long time," said Paul Rodriguez, 47, Albertson's store director.
Rodriguez's employees either volunteered to orchestrate the clean up or excitedly accepted his offer to help out, between their shifts at the Sun City grocery store.
"Christina started working with us a week ago," said Rodriguez of 24-year-old Christina MacDonald. "When I asked her, without hesitation she said, 'Yes.'"
MacDonald, who lives in Perris, has worked for the company for several years.
Albertsons' partnership with LIFT is one of many Rodriguez has fostered in Menifee Valley.
"This guy does more for the local sports than anyone," said resident Kevin Buckel of Rodriguez. "Blockbuster says 'no,' but this man says 'yes.' He'll give you hot dogs, $500 ---- whatever is necessary."
Lake Elsinore resident Frank Espinoza, Rodriguez's assistant manager, brought along his teenage son to help with the clean-up efforts Saturday. His son plays on an Elsinore High School football team.
"I think it's a good opportunity for kids to work together instead of opposition like on the football field," said Espinoza, 39. "Today, they're on the same team."
So for the volunteers, the day's objective and the process to reach it were equally important.
But for the kids who frequent LIFT after school, it means a more hospitable building and surrounding grounds.
"This was more than anticipated," Peters said of Saturday's beautification project.
"This was a big job."
Saturday's clean-up was the first of at least two phases Rodriguez has planned for LIFT. In a few weeks, Rodriguez and a small team of Albertsons employees will return to repair wood paneling near LIFT's headquarters.
Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626
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