The Sept. 28, Allied Gardens/Grantville Community Council (AGGCC) town hall meeting featured a presentation by Jeanne Patton, Recycling Specialist with the San Diego Environmental Services Department, relative to the new requirements for disposition of organic, compostable waste. In support of the closely related goals of the reducing landfills and eliminating release of methane into the environment, the city will collect organic waste such as food scraps from your kitchen, that oil-soaked bottom of the pizza box, and the left overs of that last take out dinner to convert to mulch and captured methane. The organic refuse that used to go out with the trash or into our garbage disposals will be collected with garden cuttings in designated containers alongside the rubbish and recycle bins.

The specifics are a work in progress and we will host a further presentation as soon as the city is ready to do so. In the mean time, we hope to post on our website the recording of the relevant portion of the meeting.

On Sept. 18 The Friends of Navajo Canyon and San Diego Canyonlands joined forces with I Love a Clean San Diego for the 37th annual Coastal Cleanup Day as part of our restoration efforts and stewardship in Navajo Canyon. A team of community volunteers, San Diego Canyonland Restoration Experts, and our City Open Space Park Rangers worked to remove invasive plants, clean debris from our habitat restoration areas, and pick up trash around Adobe Falls Road and the Jacaranda Bowl. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of these volunteers, over 1,000lbs of trash was removed from Navajo Canyon!

If you would like to get involved, Friends of Navajo Canyon hosts cleanup and restoration events every third Saturday of the month 9–11:30 a.m. Ample parking is available in the lot of the office building across Waring Road from the Jacaranda Bowl. All volunteers are welcome and students can earn community service hours for their participation. Let’s all do our part to keep our neighborhood clean and beautiful!

By the time this edition of the paper hits the street an AGGCC team working with Kelly Woods of the Parks Recreation Department will have completed beautification work on the playground equipment at the Allied Gardens Recreation Center. Give it a look, get an idea of what concerned citizens can do for their neighborhood, and let us know how you would like to participate.

The managers of the food pantry at Ascension Lutheran Church asked AGGCC to let our community know about their food pantry, recently rebranded A Loving Community Pantry, and its regular activities.

The pantry operates every Tuesday, Saturday and first Friday of the month 8:30–10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Ascension Lutheran Church, 5106 Zion Avenue. They partner with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and participate in the federally funded Emergency Food Assistance Program. The San Diego Food Bank delivers food to the pantry twice a month at no cost. This is a drive-through food distribution for those facing food insecurity. They need your help with their food distribution. You can sign up for a volunteer at bit.ly/3B75uzm

In addition to this food distribution/pantry, Pastor Rick Fry started a curbside/micro pantry. You may have noticed a “bird house” on 51st Street near the entrance to the church parking lot. This pantry is open 24/7. People may take food from this pantry with no questions asked. This pantry is run by the generosity of our community who provided financial donations and food donations.

Use the “Contact Us” page at aggccouncil.org to get on our email contact list. We will send you information about community activities and the agendas for the Community Council and the Navajo Community Planners, Inc. (NCPI). Our next Board meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. by Zoom.

— By Shain Haug, AGGCC president