I’m really starting to enjoy this local event thing. I’ve always been interested in promoting local communities, but I mainly did so by purchasing local foods and shopping in local stores. I’d occasionally go to festivals or big citywide events, but didn’t do many smaller things.

My friend Nick is the Site Supervisor at Habitat for Humanity in Lawndale, CA. I figured that going there would be fun, but didn’t realize how satisfying and energizing this kind of participation is. You get to meet the motivated people of the world- the people that help and work hard because they truly enjoy it. The positivity that pours out of these people is contagious. I got up at 5 a.m. yesterday and drove through L.A. traffic for close to 3 hours to get to a dumpy area of town and work construction with strangers- I should’ve been cranky. Instead, it was the best day of the week. I worked in a group of 4 people, and we were super efficient and managed to put up 19 roof beams/joists in a garage and a room in the house. I got to perfect my skills in circular sawing and learned to drive nails like Herman Munster.

Everyone was there for a different reason. Some were retired, some were there for school, some were unemployed and opening themselves up for opportunities. I went for Kizmato, and I got some website interest, but secretly I loved it for me. Next time, I’ll probably bring my Dirty Gourmet partners, and we’ll bring snacks to share. I’ll let you know when that will be. Until then, please go if you get a day or even half a day. There are builds all over the place, so just check out the website to find out what is going on in your area.