Mission Accomplished!
Thousands of Volunteers Transform
Downtown Project Sites
A great turnout at California Plaza signaled the start of a remarkable day. Volunteers were dispatched to six different sites, transforming schools, a fire station training center, a cultural arts center and historic Angel's Flight. Here's a peek at what our volunteers accomplished in just a few hours!
Angels Flight Railway - Downtown L.A.
 Volunteers kicked-off the restoration of Angels Flight Railway, one of Los Angeles' most treasured historic landmarks. The 'shortest railway in the world' rises from Hill Street to our L.A. Works Day central site at California Plaza. Skilled painters from the Painters' Union painted the station house, and regular volunteers painted railings, fences and freshened up the surrounding area.
Hollenbeck Middle School - Boyle Heights
Hollenbeck Middle School is one of the oldest active campuses in the city. Situated on a hilltop, it is a focal point, as well as a safe haven, for the surrounding communities. Our project at Hollenbeck was part of L.A. Works' Inner-City Community Extreme Make-Over Program. Over a thousand volunteers completely transformed the campus - repainting most of the facilities, and installing a new landscaping design which won first place in a UCLA Graduate School of Landscape Architecture competition.
L.A. Fire Department's Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center -
Elysian Park
The Academy is another of L.A.'s historic landmarks housed in the old 1934 Naval and Marine Recruiting Center in Elysian Park. Named for Frank Hotchkin, a fire fighter who lost his life fighting a fire that threatened to destroy this building in 1980, the Academy is also the site of L.A.'s 9/11 Memorial. Volunteers begin the first step in another of our 'extreme make-overs' prepping, painting and planting at the site.
Plaza De La Raza - Lincoln Park
Volunteers continued the ongoing transformation of Plaza de la Raza, L.A.'s premier Chicano performing and visual arts community education center. In 2004, we began an extreme make-over with employees of Deloitte who painted La Plaza with 17 different colors inspired by the palette of Frida Kahlo and designed by renowned Chicano artist, Frank Romero.
Ann St Elementary School - Lincoln Heights
Volunteers added a fresh coat of paint on classrooms and decorated the campus with colorful murals. Volunteers also entertained and educated neighborhood children with interactive activities including arts and crafts, kite building, playing on Fire Trucks, and creating theatre under the guidance of the Espresso Theater.
Sunrise Elementary School - East Los Angeles
Volunteers put the finishing touches on another L.A. Works campus make-over that began the previous week as part of Deloitte Impact Day 2005. The entire campus has been transformed into a colorful muralscape, with bright colors and animation everywhere the eye can see!
A Special Thanks to the Many Folks Who Assisted at California Plaza
Showing up at 6 am to help set up L.A. Works Day is no easy task but a fabulous group of Central Site volunteers came through to help the staff set up breakfast, hand out t-shirts, coordinate booths, register and lead thousands of volunteers through a successful day of volunteering! L.A. Works Day would not have been the fabulous event that it was without their help and dedication! Thank you for all your help:
Kelly Rios
Will Wira
Cristin Zeisler
Jimmy Brandt
Sheri Rome
Dario Calderon
Will Cook
Linda Wong
Dana Purdue
James Frazier
Marcia Stein
Alexa Benson and her entire team of registration volunteers (too many to name)
We know their were more of you! Each and every person who volunteered with L.A. Works Day was an indispensable asset that we could not have done without.
And a very special Thank You to the wonderful youth from the Maravilla Foundation. Without your help we would have been lost! Your contributions to the day were invaluable. The staff and volunteers of L.A. Works appreciated all of your help and support on L.A. Works Day 2005!
Maravilla trains youth 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. If you think your organization may have any job opportunities for Maravilla youth, please contact Program Manager, Luis Gallego at 323-869-4541.
June was a Blooming Month for
BusinessWorks Projects
We also want to acknowledge our many corporate partners who sponsored BusinessWorks projects during the month of June. It's amazing how much was accomplished in just one month. Here's a sampling:
June 3, 2005 - Deloitte Impact Day
In Los Angeles, over 1000 volunteers paint Sunrise Elementary School from top to bottom turning the entire campus into a colorful canvas. In Orange County, over 300 volunteers paint Remington Elementary School inside and out, adding colorful murals and giving a complete face lift to the front of the school.
June 24, 2005 - PriceWaterhouseCoopers Community Service Day
 450 employees from the firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers work hand in hand with firefighters to transform the Frank Hotchkins Memorial Training Center for the Los Angeles Fire Department -- painting buildings, landscaping the surrounding grounds, and installing giant planters and irrigation in front of the building.
June 25, 2005 - CAA
 75 CAA employees paint colorful murals at Walgrove Elementary School. What a suprise for the kids when they returned on Monday!
June 26, 2005 - Boost Mobile RockCorps
Power 106 (105.9 FM) helps complete the refurbishment of Hollenbeck Middle School (started on L.A. Works Day) with volunteers from RockCorps. Volunteers for this event were treated to a free concert after the project! Boost Mobile
RockCorps offers young people the opportunity to get involved in various volunteer organizations and projects throughout the nation.
Does your company want to make a difference in its community? Click here to find our more about how L.A. Works can make it easy for you. Or call (323) 224-6510 to find out more about out BusinessWorks program.
And Don't Forget Our Regular Calendar
Of Monthly Volunteer Opportunities
To see our monthly calendar of projects, click here.
Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
The L.A. Works web site also lists ongoing volunteering opportunities for non-profit agencies that have long-term volunteer needs. These referrals are not L.A. Works managed projects but we think these opportunities may be of interest to our volunteers. The link to the list of ongoing opportunities appears at the bottom of the calendar page on the web site. Click here to see the ongoing opportunities section of the web site.
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