L.A. Works makes it easy to volunteer in Los Angeles. This month we have over 50 projects working with kids, seniors, animals, the environment and more. To see our monthly calendar of projects, click here.

Each month we recognize an outstanding leader in our community. Click here to visit the L.A. Works Project Leader Recognition Page and meet these outstanding volunteers who lead our projects each month. This month's Project Leader of the Month: Veronica Cruz

Urban Shopping Adventures is offering L.A. Works Volunteers almost half-off their normal rate for a Walking Adventure in the LA Fashion District. In this 2- to 3-hour active shopping tour, you'll get insider tips on where to find designer labels in every style and at prices close to wholesale.  We'll uncover the best finds in this 90-block bustling area, filled with trendsetting apparel from evening gowns to jeans, accessories from purses to belts and watches, shoes, jewelry and more. The L.A. Works Special Adventure date is Saturday, August 14 , 10:30 a.m. to approx. 2:00 p.m. The special L.A. Works rate is $18 per person (regularly $28). Minimum 12 people. Tour includes bottled water, shopping bag, mini-map and full color District map guide.

Deadline to sign up is Wednesday, Aug 11. To sign up for this fun day of shopping, or for more information, call Christine at 213.683.9715 or click here to email Christine.

Unsure of how to change your password? Update your email address? Want guidance in creating and managing a team of volunteers?

Our on-line FAQ on the website that will answer many of your questions.

Visit the Help Center on the L.A. Works Website by clicking here.

L.A. Works 1st Annual
Summer Picnic and
Volunteer Appreciation Day

August 21, 11:00 onwards in Griffith Park

Have you RSVP'd for the picnic yet? This is already shaping up to be our biggest social gathering of volunteers to date!

Join us for a great day in the park to meet and mingle with fellow volunteers, Project Leaders, Committee Members, Board Members — the many people like yourself, who make a difference in Los Angeles!

We'll swap stories, make new friends, and tell you about our big plans for the coming year.

Lunch and fun will start at 11 a.m. and we'll be making a special presentation recognizing outstanding volunteers at 1:00 p.m.

Please RSVP as soon as you can. To do this – sign up for this event on the L.A. Works website by clicking here.   We'll email you details of where to find us in the park, as we get closer to the date.

Please bring your family and friends.  If your guests are not registered as L.A. Works volunteers on the website, just email us at info@laworks.com and we'll add them to the RSVP list.

Hope you can join us!

Ann, Natalie, Anthony, George and Larry

BusinessWorks Creates Opportunities
for Skilled Volunteers
Can you help?

Are you a landscaper?  Do you have experience in construction or painting? Are you a muralist?  L.A. Works is actively seeking volunteers with special skills to become part of its BusinessWorks Team.

What is BusinessWorks? L.A. Works partners with businesses in the L.A. area to create corporate-wide days of volunteerism. These projects are generally facility-based renovations.

L.A. Works Project Leaders and Skilled Experts supervise hundreds of corporate volunteers in creating murals, landscaping campuses, planting trees, painting interiors and exteriors, building literacy gardens, and more!  BusinessWorks projects are usually a full day.  Many times, L.A. Works Skilled experts receive a stipend to compensate them for their time.

If you've got the skills and some free time, please email larry@laworks.com or call (951) 780-3609 for more information.

L.A. Works Office Needs your Help!

L.A. Works is looking for volunteers to assist with administrative work in the L.A. Works office. We are hoping to find someone who could volunteer two or three mornings or afternoons a week on an ongoing basis. For more information, please call Ann Burroughs at (323) 224-6510 or email ann@laworks.com.

Volunteer Appreciation Event
Downtown LA: Discoveries and Rediscoveries

A Full-Day Bus Tour
Hosted by Famed Art Historian Mumsey Nemiroff and Architecture Expert and Downtown Real Estate Owner
Sam Freshman.

Saturday Sept. 18 from 9:00am – 4:30pm

As part of our continuing series of volunteer appreciation programs, L.A. Works is pleased to present this unique Downtown L.A. adventure.

Led by Mumsey Nemiroff, noted international fine arts consultant and lecturer, this busy day, departing from Westwood, will include discussion and tours of Downtown's historical sites, art and architecture.  We will also be treated to behind-the-scenes tours of some L.A. Works' community service partners. 

After lunch at one of Downtown's hottest new eateries, Pete's Café, the group will enjoy a guided shopping tour of Downtown's fashion district led by Christine Silvestri of Urban Shopping Adventures, where Christine will show us how to find high-end designer men's and women's clothes and accessories for below-retail prices.

The tour will culminate at Casa de Sosa on historic Olvera Street where the group will be treated to an exclusive presentation about efforts by the Getty Museum and the City of L.A. to protect and preserve one of L.A.'s little-known cultural jewels, the 1932 monumental outdoor mural "America Tropical" by Diego Rivera's contemporary, Mexican master muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros.

Cost:  $55.00. Includes all-day parking for your car, lunch and snacks, and round-trip bus transportation.

Space for this event is strictly limited. To reserve your space click here. 

Thanks Maravilla!

L.A. Works would like to give a very special thank you to the volunteers from the Maravilla Foundation. The students from Maravilla came out on L.A. Works Day, helping us with food service, decorations, and all the other needs of the central site. They came early, stayed late, and gave an invaluable contribution to the success of the day!

Maravilla services youth between the ages of 17-18 by providing them with work readiness skills. They determine if a youth has the set skills and interest in a specific area of occupation that will make him/her a successful candidate and provide the youth with paid work experience and on the job training.

Featured Projects of the Month

Arts and Crafts (Women only) at Good Shepherd Mother Child Residence: August 4th. The Good Shepherd Mother-Child Residence provides programs that address the complex needs of homeless women with children in L.A. Come spend an evening playing with the children of Good Shepherd while their mothers engage in classes and seminars to help them through transitional housing. Click here to sign up.

Reading to Kids: Aug 14th: Reading to Kids strives to bring children a brighter future by encouraging them to become better readers through monthly Saturday reading clubs at elementary schools. Join L.A. Works volunteers in reading with children and leading them in activities. Click here to sign up.