McBride Homegrown Hero Receives Long Beach Green Port Neighborhood Award

Not all heroes are born. Some are grown over a summer in their neighbor’s yard.

For Long Beach Green Port Neighborhood award winner Jackson Thomas, his journey began when he was 7 years old. His elderly neighbor could no longer keep up with her gardening, so Thomas and his father helped her each day, fixing up her yard and assisting her in becoming eligible for city rebates. After that experience, Thomas knew he wanted to spend his life making a difference.

That opportunity began to take shape when Thomas started attending McBride High School and became inspired by a ninth-grade engineering project focused on the heat island effect in local communities. He began asking himself what he could do to help create a healthier, more enjoyable place to live. When representatives from the Dragon Kim Foundation visited McBride to offer a $5,000 grant to students with innovative ideas to improve their communities, Thomas knew it was his moment.

He proposed that if selected, he and his friends would form an organization connecting students with residents in disadvantaged communities participating in the city’s Lawn-to-Garden program. Students would earn service hours for their labor, while residents could convert their yards into drought-tolerant, native gardens — much like Thomas had done for his neighbor years earlier. Out of 360 proposals, the Dragon Kim Foundation selected 60 recipients. Thomas’ proposal was among them.

With the grant, Thomas and his friends co-founded H.E.L.P. of Long Beach, a student-led organization focused on sustainable landscaping in underserved neighborhoods. The group soon set its sights on expanding. After securing a second grant, H.E.L.P. began assisting local businesses with drought-resistant landscaping. Because the grant required a direct benefit to youth, Thomas and his co-founders added an environmental science learning component for participating students. The additional funding allowed the group to provide landscaping materials to residents, businesses and others seeking to replace water-intensive lawns.

In the summer of 2025, Thomas interned at the Port of Long Beach. “I applied because I saw you could work in environmental sustainability,” Thomas said. “It was a big eye-opener for me.” During the internship, he explored careers in construction and mechanical engineering, received mentorship from Port leaders and worked on projects that involved advising local businesses on ways to improve sustainability, including developing a program to help businesses replace outdated air filtration systems.

Thomas also represented the city of Long Beach at an international environmental summit in sister city Yokkaichi, Japan, where he learned how communities around the world address sustainability. “It really showed me how the environment is a really important subject in different communities and a lot of effort and focus has been put into it in communities around the world,” said Thomas. “It’s really amazing to see.”

Now a senior at McBride High School, Thomas is preparing to apply to colleges including Cal State Long Beach, UC Irvine and UCLA, with plans to major in environmental engineering or environmental science. He is mentoring younger students to continue H.E.L.P. at McBride after he graduates and hopes to expand the organization to the collegiate level. “I want to work with McBride in college and bring in college students to collaborate with the program,” Thomas said. He hopes the expansion will also provide college students with opportunities to mentor high school students.

McBride engineering pathway lead and world language teacher Esmerelda Solano nominated Thomas for the Long Beach Green Port Hero Neighborhood award in recognition of his work with the Port of Long Beach and at McBride High School. The honor, Thomas said, reflects the power of community-driven change. “It really means a lot on a personal and a community aspect level,” he said. “I think it’s important to highlight all the meaningful impacts that have been made in the community. It really shows that a little bit of effort can make a big impact with businesses and community partners.” Regarding his future at the Port, Thomas remains optimistic for growth there as well. “I believe I have many great connections at the Port and I hope I can come back and make an impact there.”