"I was born & raised in Los Angeles County,
spending most of my life in the San Fernando Valley. I
went to the University of Southern California and earned
undergraduate & graduate degrees in Accounting. I
was able to pay for my education via a work-study program
that was sponsored by the Emma Bowen Foundation, a
non-profit organization based in New York, whose purpose
is to place minority students in the various branches
of the media industry. It was this organization’s
generosity that drove home the message of the positive
impact that can be had when you give back to the community. For
me, the message was simple – “don’t
forget where you came from”.
During my college years I got a taste for volunteering
as a tutor for my fellow Accounting majors. My first
job out of college was with the audit group of Deloitte & Touche. While
I spent a lot of time on the road to and from clients,
I did manage to find the time to volunteer at a community
center in Pacoima teaching English as a Second Language
to adults twice a week.
I eventually left the audit world and resumed
what turned into a rather long career in the Entertainment
Industry. It was while I was employed at Warner
Bros., in 1998, that I first became aware of L.A. Works. I
received the printed version of the monthly project
calendar from the Warner Bros. “volunteer corp”. I
signed up to volunteer at the Amanda Foundation, Good
Shepherd Mother-Child Residence, the L.A. Works office & at
Project Angel Food. It didn’t take long
before I was hooked. Each time I volunteered
I came away with a level of satisfaction I couldn’t
get anywhere else. I felt that as long as I was
able to, it was my duty to give back to the community
in some tangible way.
During one of my volunteer experiences at Project
Angel Food in 1999, I was asked to consider becoming
a Project Leader. I immediately found my place
as a leader for projects at animal shelters or anywhere
I could do arts & crafts with kids. I spent
several years leading projects at the Amanda Foundation,
Friends of Animals Foundation, Good Shepherd Mother-Child
Residence, & the Transitional Living Center. Every
now and then, if a Project Leader was needed I’d
lead volunteers at Project Angel Food, Reading to Kids & Food
on Foot. I even participated in TeamWorks in
1999 where several L.A. Works Project Leaders worked
with a group of young adults over the summer on 3 separate
community service projects, culminating in helping
the students lead their own projects.
I’m currently the leader of the HIV/AIDS
Meal Prep project at Project Angel Food, one
of the most satisfying volunteer projects I’ve
ever been a part of. Every time I walk into the
Project Angel Food site and see the eager faces of
my volunteers I am reminded of why I give back to the
community. I want to make a positive difference
in people’s lives. At the end of the day,
people won’t necessarily remember what I owned
or what I wore…..but hopefully, they’ll
remember that I cared enough to take time out of my
life to share my time with them so that they could
be happier or at ease even if just for a moment. Recently,
I left both the San Fernando Valley & the Entertainment
Industry for a new career in the Biotech Industry. And
while I’m making a new home in Thousand Oaks,
and experiencing a lot of change in my life, there
is one thing that will always remain and that is my
commitment to giving back. There is nothing else
like it."
Veronica -- L.A Works salutes your outstanding six
years with L.A. Works and your continued commitment
to Project
Angel Food and other L.A. Works projects.
You continue to be an amazing leader!
This
Month's Project Leaders
Thanks to all these Project
Leaders leading projects during the month of August.
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!
Bobbi
Marin
Bryan Kadotani
Cindy Finocchi
Cynde Knerr
Dave Herman
Dustin Manhart
Ed Simon
Glen McClanan
Helga Hung
Henry Meyer
Jacquie Moreno
Luis De Avila
Marc Weinberg
Margaret Conway
Mia Farrell
Michael Hicks
Nikki Rudloff
Russell Ali
Shannon Chettle
Suzanne Wiener
Veronica Cruz
|
 |
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 Courses section of the website and
sign up for Project Leader Training.
|
Past
Project Leaders Of the Month
August, 2004 - Veronica Cruz
July, 2004 - Margaret Conway
June, 2004 - Ellen Dugas
May, 2004 - Luis de Avila
April, 2004 - Mandana Dayani
Mar, 2004 - Cindy Finocchi
Feb, 2004 - Viet
Hoang
Jan, 2004 - Teresa
Castelli
Dec. 2003 - Mary Lawler
Nov. 2003 - Jose
Valencia
Oct, 2003 - Dustin
Manhart
Sept, 2003 - Marc Weinberg
Aug, 2003 - Mark
Kimura
July, 2003 - Jay
Ross
June, 2003 - Meghan
Lee
May, 2003 - Ray
Ng
April, 2003 - David
Trilling
March, 2003 -
Tom Hoctor
February, 2003 -
Kayo Shiraishi-Adachi
January, 2003 -
Henry Meyer
December, 2002 -
Suzanne Studer
November, 2002 - Ed Simon
October, 2002 - Bobbi Marin |
