L.A.
Works Day - Sign up Now!
 L.A.
Works Day 2004 will take place on June 5th. Here's your chance to become
a part of Los Angeles' largest and most exciting day of community service
which connects concerned citizens with the broader social issues of our city.
Starting at
7:30 a.m., thousands of volunteers representing our city's rich cultural
blend will converge a few steps from Disney Hall at California Plaza, the
gathering place at the heart of our emerging "new downtown."
We will fan out to play music with kids, create community art, paint schools,
murals and Fire Stations, plant trees and clean up the LA River. Dozens of
community sites will be transformed in a single day! No other event
in Los Angeles makes such a profound difference in the character of our city.
How
can you get involved?
Registration deadline is May 21st
Become
an L.A. Works Team: It's
easy to organize a team of volunteers to work together and make a
difference in our community. For more information on creating a team
for L.A. Works Day 2004, click
here.
Volunteer
as an individual: If you're not part of a team but
want to sign-up to go to one of the project sites, paint, plant, clean
up the river and help out kids, click
here to register as a volunteer.
Meet
our new Executive Director
Ann Burroughs
From
the Executive Director 
I
remember so well when L.A. Works opened its doors in 1991. It brought with
it the promise of building communities and bridges that would span the
length and breadth of our city. It was at a time when our urban consciousness
was frail and our sense of community fragile. Over the years, I have watched
L.A. Works grow into a force to be reckoned with. And now, more than a
decade later, I find myself at the helm of this extraordinary organization
that has mobilized Los Angeles' volunteer power for the last thirteen
years.
And it is you,
our volunteers, who have transformed and built communities through service
and forged links between individuals and community needs. Through your
dedicated service and commitment to the social issues of Los Angeles, you
have re-imagined volunteerism, energized a new generation of volunteer
activists and created a new movement for social change.
These first three months have given me the time to focus on the unique programs
we offer, to begin to meet some of you in person, to learn about the communities
we serve and the role we play in connecting people to the most pressing needs
in our city. And what I have learned has been quite extraordinary. We have
grown into an organization with a volunteer base of over 7000 members, with
more than 100 new sign-ups each week. This translates into tens of thousands
of volunteer hours each year, and immeasurable service to our community partners
across the city.
Increased poverty in Los Angeles County, coupled with budget
cuts and a significant reduction in social services, have placed great
burdens on non-profits that struggle, with shrinking resources, to provide
services to at-risk communities. Because of L.A. Works' ability to
expand the capacity of our community service partners by providing them
with skilled volunteer help, there has been an exponential increase in
the requests for partnerships from community based organizations. My first
priority as Executive Director is to build our capacity to respond to these
requests by strengthening our volunteer base and by developing new volunteer
leadership to lead these new projects.
It has been an exciting three months. I've also learned that L.A. Works
is a bit like coming home for me. I cut my teeth in the struggle against apartheid
in my native South Africa during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s, and spent the
late ‘80s working at the South African Council of Churches which was
at the forefront of the movement for political change. When I first came to
Los Angeles in 1991, I joined the staff of Amnesty International where I worked
for almost 9 years. And for the last 4 years, I've worked as a consultant
on several large-scale programs that have focused on broad-based social change
both in the U.S. and Africa. And now, I have been given the opportunity to
serve my own city and its communities. A real privilege!
Featured
Projects of the Month
Reading
to Kids! Our new
partnership with Reading to Kids got off to a great start last month!
Let's keep the momentum going in May! This event brings together
dozens of volunteers and children to read and do art projects together.
Please sign up for May 8th, we have two locations, one in the Valley and
one Downtown.
Come join us at the Daniel Webster Middle School Environmental Education
Garden.
This is a great project for large groups and families. Spend the morning gardening
and maintaining this beautiful one-acre space used for therapy and education. There
are two May dates, May
8th and 22nd.
To
see our full monthly calendar of projects, click
here.
Other
Volunteer Opportunities
The
following opportunities are not L.A. Works managed projects, but should
be of interest to our volunteers.
The
California Science Center needs volunteers for the California
State Science Fair, Monday, May 24 and Tuesday, May 25! More
than 100 volunteers are needed each day to assist with student and
judge registrations, information and directions, project transport,
display monitoring, meal distribution and various other duties. For
more information and to sign up please contact Raul Pereya 213-744-2124
or email at VolunteerDept@cscmail.org.
The
Los Angeles Public Library will be sponsoring its 10th annual
LA Kids Read kick-off event June 5th from 12pm - 4pm for the Los Angeles
Public Library's year-round
children's Reading club, themed "Reel Movies & Books".
The focus will be on children's books, movies, and movie-making.
The festival will include free fun activities such as a stunt shows,
live music, puppet shows, storytellers, and crafts and the awarding of
the third Reader Leader Award. Volunteers help library staff in
a variety of ways. For example, they work with children at craft tables,
distribute complimentary goodie bags, usher audiences into performances,
and assist with crowd control. If you are interested in volunteering
please contact Cathy Kawahara, Office of Children's Services at
(213) 228-7480 or kawahara@lapl.org.
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