Charlotta Ashworth, who recently moved to Torrance...

Charlotta Ashworth, who recently moved to Torrance from Atlanta, had heard that the Los Angeles area was austere and not very friendly at all. So she was pleasantly surprised when two strangers knocked on her front door, bearing a gift.

The visitors were members of Rolling Hills Covenant Church, which recently launched a campaign to welcome all new residents to the South Bay with hand-delivered housewarming gifts of seedling pine trees.

“I didn’t expect anything like that,” said Ashworth, 46, who said she and her family had been told that “the people here were cold.”

“If we just do good things in the name of Christ, it’s just like planting seeds,” said Kimberly Creasman, director of the SEEDS campaign.

But the campaign is also an attempt to boost the church’s membership by inviting South Bay newcomers to the church’s services.

Hence, the seedling pines, wrapped in white tissue paper with a green ribbon, come with planting instructions and an invitation to “come grow with us.”

And it seems to be working. The Rev. Chuck Olson, the pastor, said the church has had double the number of visitors since the campaign began in September.

The church, using volunteers, plans to distribute 10,000 trees by the end of October. About 2,000 families have so far received the welcoming gesture.

“If you brought me a rose, in a couple of days, the rose would be gone,” Ashworth said. “But, with a tree, it’s different because it’s going to keep on growing and living.”

The church was able to obtain the addresses of all homes sold in the South Bay this summer from area real estate agencies, and about 100 members volunteered to deliver the seedlings.

“It’s a refreshing personal contact of warmth in an increasing age of coldness,” Creasman said. “People moving out to the L.A. area are incredibly lonely because they’re surrounded by a metropolis (and they feel that) no one cares about them.”

Although volunteers often found no one at home when they visited, they left the seedlings on the doorstep to welcome the newcomers home.

Angie Shao, 26, was nonplussed when she came home from work one afternoon and saw a miniature tree on her front porch. After reading the card that came with it, she promptly planted the tree in a pickle barrel and put it in her back yard.

“Normally, people give you brochures or ask for money,” said Shao, who just moved from Carson to Torrance in August. “This time, we’re receiving something and it’s really nice.”