L.A. Works Thanks it's Project Leaders

L.A. Works Makes it Easy to Volunteer in Los Angeles

We Salute our Project Leaders
March, 2006

Project Leader of the Month

Christina Preiss

Generosity of Spirit. That's the phrase that comes to mind when one thinks about this month's Project Leader of the Month, Christina Preiss. In the photo at right, Christina is posing with a photo she took of a New Orleans cemetery about a month before Katrina hit. After the storm, Christina put three of her photos in a benefit show for Katrina victims and raised over $300. That sort of generosity and caring has marked everything Christina has done with L.A. Works in the last two years.

Christina first became involved with L.A. Works in 2004 at L.A. Works Day 2004. She was part of a massive project involved in cleaning up the L.A. River. Despite the dirty, hazardous work, she had a positive experience and decided to make the jump from one-time "L.A. Works Day" volunteer, to signing up for projects on our regular project calendar.

In short order, Christina became one of our most active volunteers. She quickly became an active volunteer in a number of our projects with kids: at Gramercy Place Shelter, Aviva, and particularly at the Good Shepherd Mother Child Residence.

I first met Christina at the Good Shepherd "Arts and Crafts" project. I was amazed at her energy and spirit. All the kids recognized her (as she had been coming regularly, twice each month and became a loving and recognized face for the kids there...) and they were thrilled to see her! Much to my surprise, she had brought the kids candy and toys as well [Note: Christina had the good sense to make sure that every child received something. No one was left out. That's an important step to make whenever giving gifts or treats to kids in a shelter or facility. We never want our volunteers to single out one child over another.] Her generosity was such that in addition to giving her time, she always chose to give "a little something extra" to the kids she worked with.

She was also full of ideas and innovation. To "help out" the Project Leader at the project, she always had a few extra craft activities ready to go, in case the kids grew restless. The Project Leaders she volunteered under, and her fellow volunteers all had the same thought -- "Why aren't you leading these projects?"

With a little urging, Christina attended Project Leader Training in October 2005 and quickly has become one of our most active new leaders. She's formally adopted the project at Good Shepherd, which she leads on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month. You'll be hard pressed to find a project with a happier, more stimulated group of kids.

Additionally, Christina has led projects at Aviva, and our Senior Outing at Alexandria Care Center. When she's not leading projects, she still continues to volunteer on a regular basis, working with seniors, doing planting, pumpkin carving, and more!

Christina shared this story about her project at Good Shepherd:

"A little boy at the shelter had been kidnapped and taken to Mexico. After his traumatic ordeal, he wasn't really speaking anymore. I found this out after a day of working with him and making a collage with him. His mother came up to me with tears in her eyes saying that he hadn't been speaking to anyone before and what a difference we were making in these children's lives. That made me really happy and makes me want to keep doing what I am doing."

If you'd like to be a part of Christina's project (which is open to female volunteers only, by the way), click here to sign up for a future occurrence.

We applaud Christina's amazing generosity of spirit, and welcome her to the growing legion of Project Leaders who enable us to provide over 70 volunteer opportunities every month. Thanks Christina!

This Month's Project Leaders

Thanks to all of our Project Leaders who are leading projects during the month of March. This month there are 50 of you! A New L.A. Works Record of active Project Leaders in one month!

You are the real leaders in our community! The Staff & Board of Directors of L.A. Works thanks you for being the real superstars of our community!

Albana Farias
Alvin Fong
Andrew Abeyesinghe
Bobbi Marin
Brandy Griffin
Bryan Kadatani
Charlene Chung
Chris Fukunaga
Christina Preiss
Christopher Babers
Clarence Smith
Colleen Gately
Cynde Knerr
David Trilling
Douglas Leeder
Ed Simon
Elvin Albino
Emilie Harris
Emily Barclay
Erika Lopez
Gil Gerstein
Glen McClanan
Grace Lee
Hal Christensen
Ivonne Meza
Julie Prejean
Jesse Perez-Fraga
Julie Anne O'Neill
Karsten Loose
Katherine Serrano
Kathryn Perez-Fraga
Krisel Stern
Luis De Avila
Margaret Comstock
Mark Kimura
Mia Farrell
Nadia Richardson
Nikki Corba
Pamela Moore
Paul Van Wieren
Rafik Ghazarian
Sandy Boscarino
Sarah Boyd
Shelia Taylor
Sherly Lam
Stephanie Cirone
Suzanne Wiener
Timothy Dickey
Veronica Cruz
Yolanda Dave

Want to join the ranks of L.A.'s most involved citizens? Become an L.A. Works Project Leader.

It's easy, it's fun, and it doesn't require a huge amount of your time.

Go to the Project Calendar section of the website and sign up for Project Leader Training or email Larry Deckel to find out the date of the next session.

Past Project Leaders Of the Month

February, 2006 - in loving Memory, Helga Hung

January, 2006 - Sherly Lam

November, 2005 - Clearence Smith

October, 2005 - Joan Bang

September, 2005 - Kat and Jesse Perez-Fraga

August, 2005 - Bryan Kadatoni

July, 2005 - Ken Hagopian

June, 2005 - Laura Bonilla

May, 2005 - Alexa Benson

April, 2005 - April Fields

March, 2005 - Mia Farrell

February, 2005 - Sandy Boscarino

January, 2005 - Andrew Anura Abeyesinghe

December, 2004 - Jacquie Moreno