Bits 'n' Pieces

Celebration of Young Child

On April 14, 2018, the City of Long Beach will host its first Celebration of the Young Child as part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Early Childhood Education Program (ECEP). This free, one-day event will be held at Long Beach State University (1250 Bellflower Blvd.), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A focus will be placed on children up to age six. However, all families from across the City are welcome to attend.

Attendees are advised to enter the event from Atherton Street. Parking is free for the first 200 cars in Lot E1. After the first 200 cars, the fee for parking is eight dollars per car.

According to recent Census data, over 34,000 children up to age six, live in Long Beach. This event celebrates the importance of the early years of life by providing children who attend with various educational and fun hands-on activities, while also providing their families with information on how to support their learning and overall well-being. Over 50 different city and county departments, and local organizations and agencies will be hosting resource and activity booths.

This event is made possible through partnerships with the Mayor’s Fund for Education, the College Promise, the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee and through generous sponsorships from the Port of Long Beach, Boeing and the Children’s Clinic.

The Celebration of the Young Child kicks off the local observance of national Week of the Young Child. Various early childhood education locations throughout the city will host activities associated with National Association for the Education of Young Children’s yearly celebration. This year, the city’s ECEP has collaborated with other departments and organizations to host events across the city.

For the listing of other Week of The Young Child activities, please visit the ECEP’s Facebook page at, https://www.facebook.com/LBHealthECEP/ or call (562) 570-4000.

New Chief Nursing Officer

St. Mary Medical Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Nancy Valla, BSN, RN as chief nursing officer (CNO) effective April 9. Nancy will be responsible for overseeing all nursing operations.

With over a decade of executive management experience and 30 years in the health care field, Nancy brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to St. Mary. Most recently, she served as CNO of American Hospital Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, successfully developing and implementing nursing and clinical operations strategies for the 300-bed facility.

Prior to joining American Hospital Dubai, Nancy served as executive director of service lines at Hawaiian-based The Queen’s Health Systems and held the role of vice president of Operations at Cigna Corporation in Arizona.

After completing her nursing education and receiving a Bachelor of Science in nursing, Nancy went on to complete a Master’s Degree in human resources and organizational development. She is currently in the process of completing a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology. Nancy is also a Six Sigma Green Belt and is board-certified in computer informatics by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

April is Earth Month

Long Beach celebrates April as Earth Month. The city has many opportunities for residents and visitors to participate, celebrate, and protect the natural environment. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, and has since expanded to the entire month of April for the City of Long Beach with volunteer events, fairs, open houses and more.

Events are being held around the city by nonprofits, community organizations and city departments to raise awareness that the earth needs protection every day. Below are some of the activities taking place this month; and the community is invited to participate.

Rainwater Harvesting Class (April 14, 9-11 a.m.): Learn how to harvest rainwater for gardens. Rain barrels are available for preorder, and can be picked up at the class. The class will be conducted at Recreation Park Community Center (4900 E. 7th St.).

CSULB Green Generation Mixer (April 19, 4-7 p.m.): The seventh annual Green Generation Mixer brings together students, faculty, staff and Long Beach community sustainability leaders for a fun evening of mingling, music and food at the beautiful Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden (1250 Bellflower Blvd.).

Earth Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific (April 21 and 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.): Learn how to protect ocean life at the Aquarium’s (100 Aquarium Way) annual Earth Day Celebration. Visit booths from Earth-friendly organizations and participate in hands-on learning demonstrations.

Great LA River Cleanup (April 28, from 9 a.m. to noon): Join the largest urban river cleanup in America! One of the best ways one can help preserve the present and future health of the LA River is by joining a clean-up effort. Long Beach is host to cleanups at Willow Street Estuary (2526 De Forest Ave.) and Golden Shore Marine Reserve (401 Golden Shore).

Find these and many more environmental events this month on Long Beach Sustainability’s annual Earth Month Calendar or check out the Green Events Calendar, which showcases sustainable events in Long Beach every month.

Free Shuttle Service

The City of Long Beach announced the launch of a free shuttle service in downtown Long Beach. The new service, provided by The Free Ride (TFR), offers transportation around the downtown area using gas-free, electric vehicles.

TFR offers free transport anywhere within its designated travel zone (5th Street to the north, Alamitos Avenue to the east, Shoreline Drive to the south, I-710 to the west).

Users can request a pick-up from anywhere within the shuttle’s travel zone by using The Free Ride application. The app is currently available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, or at www.thefreeride.com/app. The free shuttle will be operating daily, Sunday thru Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Thursday thru Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Founded by James Mirras and Alex Esposito in 2011, TFR is a free, electric, micro-transit solution. TFR uses fleets of nimble cars to fulfill the first-mile/last mile gaps that are experienced by municipalities around the world. The service is made possible by collaborating with municipal organizations, and executing innovative OOH/Experiential advertising campaigns with some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Since its inception, TFR has given over 2 million rides and expanded to 14 cities across New York, Florida, California, New Jersey and Texas. For more information on how to catch a ride or advertising opportunities head over to thefreeride.com.

The free shuttle service is part of a two-month pilot program managed by the Department of Public Works and is made possible through $100,000 from Prop A funding. At the end of the two-month pilot, the program will be evaluated and a decision will be made on whether to make it a permanent program.

Dive into Reading

April is National Library Month; and this year’s theme chosen by the American Library Association is “Libraries Lead.” Long Beach Public Library is celebrating all the ways libraries lead in the community by launching its newest early literacy initiative, “Dive into Reading,” specifically for families with children ages five and under. The goal of the initiative is simple: parents and guardians strive to read 1,000 books with their child before the start of kindergarten.

Reading together helps children develop crucial early literacy skills, such as increasing letter knowledge, vocabulary and narrative skills. “Dive into Reading” helps build these skills through five essential practices: reading, talking, singing, playing and writing. Families who register for the program will checkout themed story kits, attend special library events and receive prizes for every 100 books read.

“Dive into Reading” will launch at noon on April 18, at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, 5870 Atlantic Ave., during the Week of the Young Child. The event will include: stories, singing, crafts, registration information and a special story event hosted by Vice Mayor Rex Richardson.

“We are excited to engage families with expert resources to get our youngest Long Beach residents ready to enter kindergarten,” said Glenda Williams, Director of Library Services. “It is important that our little ones have a good start on the road to reading readiness, and it is a pleasure to be a part of their journey.”

Throughout the month of April, the Long Beach Public Library will be hosting creative, informative and community-driven events at all 12 locations. Activities include: engaging author talks, crafting workshops, naturalist programs and more.

For more information about “Dive into Reading” or other National Library Month events happening in Long Beach, visit the library’s website, www.lbpl.org.