At the heart of community service is the community itself.
“Community service on an individual level gives people purpose — something that they can do that’s beyond themselves,” Sarah Abrams, the co-founder of Project Love Ventura, said.
“But when you do it in a collaborative way,” Abrams added, “it brings people together.” The spirit of togetherness is what Abrams says distinguishes Love Ventura, a day where people of all ages, beliefs and political views can come together under the same shared sense of pride and love for their community.
This year, Love Ventura organized 26 projects, taking place simultaneously throughout the city. Across Ventura, Calif., volunteers spent the day of Oct. 4, 2025, landscaping community spaces, repainting fences and cleaning up neighborhoods and beaches. The annual event, which Abrams and her husband have now organized for four consecutive years, was supported by local sponsors who contributed through funding, breakfast and coffee donations.
Although there were a plethora of projects, much of the day’s energy could be seen at sites like the River Community Church, the Tenderlife Maternity Home and the Promenade — each reflecting the same purpose: bringing people together through service. From painting fences to spreading mulch to hosting a baby shower for the women at Tenderlife, volunteers worked side by side to make a tangible difference in their community.
“We’ve always been the family to be volunteered for,” said Michael Hernandez, “and now we get to give back.”
Hernandez volunteered for the River Community Church, spending the morning shoveling and spreading mulch outside. Having joined the church six months ago, Hernandez said events like this help him feel more connected, not just to other church members, but to Ventura as a whole. He expressed the importance of building relationships with members of the community, saying, “That’s the biggest thing: just getting familiar with people so we can become like brothers and sisters.”
Just down the street from where Hernandez and his team were mulching, other volunteers gathered to support the Tenderlife Maternity Home, an organization that provides housing and resources for pregnant women and new mothers in need. Some volunteers repainted the home’s fence, while others set up a baby shower, complete with food, games and gifts to celebrate the new mothers.
“We love this whole idea of what [Tenderlife] does for young mothers and Ventura residents,” Lynne Krueger, whose family helped repaint the home’s fence, said.
“It’s just a wonderful organization, so whatever we can do to support them, we will do that,” she said.
At the promenade, volunteers dedicated their efforts to cleaning the beach. They collected trash and cleared debris from the sand, helping maintain one of Ventura’s most popular spots. The cleanup, organized in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation, drew in even more participants than in previous years.
“I think it’s just nice for everyone to be part of something bigger, so you feel that sense of community,” Hillary Freeman, one of the cleanup’s volunteers, said.
Freeman signed up after seeing the Love Ventura signs around town and wanted to contribute to keeping the beaches she so often visits clean.
“Everybody really cares, and the volunteers were great,” Freeman said.
As the day came to a close, volunteers across Ventura finished their work repainting fences, clearing trash and restoring places often taken for granted. What remained wasn’t only a cleaner beach and a freshly mulched ground, but a shared sense of care and love for the city they live in.
