Tag: hope

Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Liberty Station.

Hundreds of people came together at NTC Park in Liberty Station today to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The event was organized by the Alzheimer’s Association.

I arrived as the 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer’s was coming to an end, but I’m going to share a few photos and hope you feel inspired to make a donation to this important cause. If through medical research we could finally put an end to Alzheimer’s, that would benefit literally millions of lives.

Click here to make a donation. (If that special event webpage goes away, you can also click here for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s main page. Look for the donation button.)

Consider forming your own team and walking next time!

A lot of love in these photos…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Help save a young boy’s life!

The kiddo in the above photo is named Paxton. He desperately needs your help!

I learned from his dad that Paxton has a very rare genetic mutation. He has a devastating neurodegenerative mutation on the CLCN6 gene. Paxton will be part of a clinical trial for a promising new lifesaving treatment, but funds need to be raised.

Scientists at UMass Worcester, Chan School of Medicine, Horae Gene Therapy Center, are developing a first of its kind gene therapy for CLCN6 mutations. Paxton will be the patient in the clinical trial.

To read Paxton’s story, click here.

You can help!

I learned from Paxton’s father during the Adams Avenue Street Fair that funds can be raised via GoFundMe and WeWard. Also, you can donate via VENMO (@Cure_CLCN6_Inc) or ZELLE (Cure CLCN6, Inc.).

Here’s the GoFundMe page.

You can easily raise funds simply by walking and using the WeWard App. Create your profile (using referral code ZealousBumblebee1136), then from the Social Tab click Communities then +Join. Enter Code CURE2360 to join the Cure CLCN6 Community.

Please visit the Cure CLCN6 website.

Please spread the word.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Join the 2025 Walk in Remembrance with Hope.

The 19th Annual Walk in Remembrance with Hope will be held in San Diego tomorrow morning, Sunday, September 14, 2025.

The Walk in Remembrance with Hope celebrates the lives of loved ones lost to suicide. It also raises awareness about suicide prevention.

The walkers and others will gather in Balboa Park on the grass near Sixth Avenue, south of Laurel Street. Registration begins at 7 am.

I met the good people setting up for the event this afternoon. The Walk in Remembrance with Hope is organized by Survivors of Suicide Loss. See their website here.

All ages, friends, family and pets are welcome to join! Start a team and invite your friends & family, or walk individually.

The event is a helpful resource fair, too, with vendor booths and more.

Even if you’ve never been personally affected by the tragedy of suicide, you can still help out these good people with a donation. Make your donation here.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Bright new murals promote love in City Heights!

Should you walk down University Avenue in City Heights, you might notice bright, colorful artwork in the alley just east of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene. Turn into the alley and you’ll discover three positive murals that promote love and hope!

I made this discovery myself on Saturday, as I walked through City Heights during the Beautify the Block community cleanup. When I circled to the rear of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene, I met one of the friendly pastors engaged in their twice a week food distribution. She told me the artwork was completed very recently!

I know you’ll enjoy seeing these murals, too.

I notice the first mural, Better Together, is signed @littlehouseink and is a collaboration with Mid-City Nazarene and LoveWorks. That name is appropriate. In essence, the work of art is about love.

This next mural with rainbows threading through a heart contains Hope in many languages. It’s signed Rachel Venancio and Loveworks.

(I walked past this second mural for the above alley photo. You can glimpse the first mural in the distance to the right, next to University Avenue.)

And a bit farther down the alley we have a wise quote by Martin Luther King Jr.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Youth take over Gallery 21 in Spanish Village!

A youth gallery takeover has begun!

Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village is now full of art created by young people from National City!

Youth, ages 5 to 18, are exhibiting works they created during the last season of A Reason to Survive (ARTS) programming. The exhibition is titled Echoes of Blooming, and it opened yesterday.

Blooming is the perfect word, because bursts of creativity and personal expression have blossomed on the walls and in the spaces of the gallery.

I visited Gallery 21 today and found pieces that explore themes of transformation, inner strength, and the courage to challenge harmful cycles.

Many of the young artists live in neighborhoods where hope might be difficult to find. But hope can be achieved through artistic self-expression, especially when one’s personal efforts are celebrated in a gallery exhibition!

Congrats to every one of the artists! May you all go on to achieve bigger and bigger successes!

The public is invited to the exhibition’s Opening Reception, which will take place on July 5, from 5 – 7 pm, in Gallery 21 at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park.

Just a few works of art you’ll enjoy seeing…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Inspiring mural at The Chrysalis in Barrio Logan.

Should you walk along Main Street in Barrio Logan, you might see this inspiring mural. It depicts a heart sprouting butterfly wings.

The mural is painted at The Chrysalis: Monarch Center for the Arts, a 6,000 square foot arts space in Barrio Logan with a dedicated 100-seat theatre, dance studio, visual art classroom, and storefront gallery.

Before the butterfly comes the chrysalis. According to their website: We envision a world where youth and adults use the tools and resources of the arts to help imagine, create, and build the vibrant and successful life they desire and deserve.

The Chrysalis is home to Creative Youth Development and Community Programs. As the beautiful mural suggests, it is a place filled with positivity and hope.

A poster in the window encourages people to “Host your next event in our space!” Why not support people who strive to help youth and the community?

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

A colorful Easter walk in Balboa Park.

Easter Sunday, for many, is a day full of promise, joy, new life.

As I walked through Balboa Park early this afternoon, I could see in many open faces a love of life. Laughter and smiles. Delighting in the sunshine. Soaking in our world’s beauty and the bright colors of spring.

I wandered about without any destination in mind…

A smile and Easter Bunny ears in the Balboa Park Visitors Center.
Joyful baile folklórico dancing in the Plaza de Panama.
Is there a more wonderful place?
Plenty of flowers for a photographic background.
The Spring Orchids In The Park Show attracts a big crowd inside the Casa del Prado.
A street performer has colorful balloons ready.
Mitchell Walker brought three didgeridoos today!
Spring has turned the park’s trees bright green.
I see golden California poppies along the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new nature trail.
Spanish Village is always colorful, no matter the season.
Abstract artist Lucas Smith is exhibiting in Gallery 21 through tomorrow.
Another weekend in Spanish Village means more live glassblowing!
Plenty of color here!
The San Diego History Center will soon have the official opening of Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys.
What spring looks like between Casa de Balboa and the House of Hospitality.
A couple of the International Cottages were open on Easter Sunday. This very beautiful pendant is displayed in the House of Korea.
Imagination Station is now playing at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater.
A prickly pear blooms in the Kate O. Sessions Cactus Garden.
Colorful umbrellas provide shade during rehearsal before the Sunday two o’clock organ concert.
Talented musicians in a splash of sunshine along El Prado.
An artist has captured some of this world’s infinite color.
Balboa Park’s thriving rose garden attracts many families on Easter Sunday.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Unhoused students write Odes to Common Things.

Unhoused students at Monarch School in Barrio Logan have written powerful words concerning their life experiences. Their many compositions (each an ode to a common thing) are collected in a series of published books. Several volumes of Odes to Common Things are available at the San Diego Public Library.

Today I noticed that the big video screen near the Central Library’s entrance was cycling through some of these thought-provoking odes. I stood there reading, and lifting my camera to take a few photographs.

The Monarch School serves homeless youth–unhoused kids who live in shelters, motels, single room occupancy housing, double- or tripled-up with other families, at camp sites, in cars, or on the streets. Monarch School is the only comprehensive K-12 school in the U.S. developed specifically to serve unhoused students and their families.

Would you like to read words that might move you–words written from the heart by youth who hope to lead a secure and happy life? Yes? See the availability of the Ode to Common Things books at the San Diego Public Library by clicking here.

Ode to Memories, by Derek. …I carry memories of my life–in my head, my brain, my heart. They can be beautiful. They can be scary…
Ode to Cats, by Fabian. …My cats make me feel happy, comfortable…Cats go to heaven…
Ode to Basketball, by Deveyon. …It makes me better able to work with new people, to make new friends…basketball is what I have.
Ode to Ice Cream, by Jaylen. …What’s good is its coldness, its sweetness, its flavor. It’s as sweet as a championship and as joyful as a party.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Padres 2024 Postseason: For the Faithful and Peter Seidler.

2024 has been an amazing season for the San Diego Padres. 93 wins. 3,314,593 fans at Petco Park. 56 home sellouts.

This afternoon fans learned the Padres will be playing a home Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves, beginning tomorrow evening. Downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp will be going crazy.

Two themes are helping to motivate our team to victory in 2024. Fighting for the ever-patient, ever-hopeful, loudly cheering Friar Faithful. Winning for Peter Seidler.

You can see and feel it everywhere.

I walked around Petco Park late this afternoon with my camera. I noticed that anticipation is growing for the Padres Postseason at the ballpark and on the streets around it.

Do it for Seidler.

Let me share this downtown mural of Peter Seidler one more time. Fans can find it north of Santa Fe Depot…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Survivors of Suicide Loss provides comfort, hope.

An important event was held today in Balboa Park. The Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego held a Walk in Remembrance With Hope.

As I entered Balboa Park for a late Sunday morning stroll, I noticed tents and a stage coming down on the grass near Sixth Avenue. I then spoke to smiling people who had worked to organize the event.

When I was told about the Walk in Remembrance With Hope, I wanted to help in a small way with my blog.

The walk was a memorable way to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to suicide
& to raise awareness about suicide prevention. Funds raised stay in San Diego County for suicide outreach & prevention and survivor support services.

If you’d like to read more about the organization, find comfort, or help spread human compassion, please visit the Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego website by clicking here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.