One day in early November, a flash mob arrived on Vancouver’s West 23rd Street. But they didn’t swarm John Ball Park, or shoplift en masse, or do any of the other pointless or mischievous things flash mobs have become notorious for doing these days.
What they did was clean up the neighborhood. “It was all very well-organized, efficient and they seemed to have fun doing the job. Thank you for a job well done.” That note came from “very appreciative senior citizen” Ruby, who sent it to The Columbian because she didn’t know exactly whom she should be thanking.
The answer is 29-year-old Andrey Ivanov, his seven brothers and their social circle. They’re mostly Eastern European immigrants and their first-generation American children, said Ivanov, who was born in Ukraine and came here when a child.
Ivanov and friends were busy feeding hungry people at the Lord’s Gym until that food pantry shut down earlier this year. But just because Lord’s Gym is between homes, Ivanov figured, that’s no reason to stop doing good deeds.
“Why don’t we do something completely spontaneous and crazy with a flash-mob mentality,” he thought, “but let’s put a positive spin on it. Let’s not flash a mob, let’s flash love.”
A name and an effort were born. Flash Love’s informal calls to action started going out via Facebook, and dozens of people started showing up. In addition to cleaning up West 23rd Street, they’ve gone shopping for foster children, served coffee and sandwiches to homeless people during the recent cold snap, moved poor women into new homes in Portland and provided food and companionship for senior citizens at a Portland nursing home.
“We have all this awesome energy,” Ivanov said. “It feels good but it’s more than that, it’s truly showing humanity.” He said something like 300 people have turned out so far to flash some love at one event or another. The next step is to launch a formal nonprofit agency with an online way for needy people to request help, he said. (Despite the implication of “flash,” he said, there’s always sufficient advance communication — so surprised beneficiaries don’t start calling the police before they realize what’s up.) And he’s eager to see the effort grow beyond the admittedly insular world of his immigrant community, he said.
Another Flash Love project: routine monthly in-house baby-sitting at downtown family homeless shelter Open House Ministries, freeing up parents for a normal night out together. More immediately, Ivanov said he was just about to go change the oil in an elderly woman’s car.
“We’ve been making connections in the most awkward, odd places,” he said. “I want to involve everybody and make it fun.”
