Scientology Volunteers Promote Responsibility and Care for the Environment Through Art

This month’s Hollywood Village Cleanup organized by the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre set a good example by transforming graffiti into artistic messages to preserve indigenous wildlife.

Each month, the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles organizes a neighborhood cleanup. By survey, this is a high priority for local residents and businesses. And with the increase in crime and homelessness in the city, it is even more important today than when the initiative began. A partnership between the Church of Scientology, The Way to Happiness Foundation and the LAPD known as “Hollywood Village,” the program has the purpose: to keep Hollywood beautiful, safe and clean. L.A. Native was the theme of this month’s activity. As usual, volunteers gathered at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center, collected cleaning supplies, and headed out for their monthly cleanup.  

 

After picking up and disposing of litter and trash, they tackled upgrading the appearance of six vandalized utility boxes. They painted the boxes with colorful images of native plants and animals, including the California poppy, bears, a hawk, and a unique spray-painted owl created by professional artist Michael Sanchez, who helps organize and coaches the volunteers on their artwork.  

The Church of Scientology sponsors the Hollywood Village initiative to care for the neighborhood known as the “show-business capital of the world.” Visitors come from all over to see famous television and movie studios and record companies and the volunteers like to contribute to the community by helping keep it clean and aesthetic for neighbors and visitors alike.

After each cleanup, volunteers hand out copies of The Way to Happiness, the common-sense guide to better living written by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. It is a moral code anyone may use to chart a course for a happier life.

Homelessness is a major issue in Los Angeles as it is in so many other cities. And The Way to Happiness can help those down on their luck get their lives going in a better direction. “This is a new kind of moral code. I have seen this book create miracles,” says the coordinator of the project whose favorite quote to share is:

“One can feel that things are such now that it is much too late to do anything, that one’s past road is so messed up that there is no chance of drawing a future one that will be any different: there is always a point on the road when one can map a new one. And try to follow it. There is no person alive who cannot make a new beginning.” 

To learn more, watch The Way to Happiness book on film on the Scientology Network.

This month’s cleanup was sponsored by Kettle Glazed Donuts and Domino’s Pizza.