Talk about random stuff!
Tina Saw, DDS’14, takes selfie with homeless patient not shown.
Late last year, a New Jersey man who regularly watched an Ocean Beach waterfront live cam noticed two men with 5-gallon pails picking up trash on the local beach each morning. From across the continent, the man emailed the star feature reporter for CBS affiliate News 8/KFMB-TV in San Diego and asked if he could find a way to thank the men.
The News 8 reporter with a cameraman investigated and found two homeless men had been living out of a broken-down van for several years and regularly spent time early each morning collecting litter from the surrounding beachfront property. It was just something that one of them said they enjoy doing “to make the community look better."
Beginning September 5, 2020, News 8 broadcast several feature segments on the two homeless former drug addicts and their contribution to the esthetics of the Ocean Beach waterfront. The story triggered a heartwarming community response that included LLUSD alumni who were profoundly practicing the School’s motto—Service Is Our Calling—in a way that radically improved the lives of the two friends.
The story unfolds in a series of segments by News 8 San Diego hyperlinked below in chronological order:
New Jersey man spots Ocean Beach trash volunteers on webcam
September 4, 2020
Good deeds rewarded | Homeless men in Ocean Beach receive $25,000 in donations
September 14
Ocean Beach homeless men receive a ‘Minivan Makeover’ and find a place to live
October 19
“Ocean Beach Helper’ receives new smile free of charge
November 17
Former Ocean Beach homeless man receives new $8,000 smile for free
March 15