She's
been a project leader for the last two L.A. Works Days,
leading projects at the 10th Street School and The
Patriotic Hall. As big as those projects were, this
year's project at Magnolia School will be her largest
yet!
We
asked Ellen to tell us a bit about herself:
"Who knew that a trip to Jiffy Lube would be my
first introduction to the wonderful people of L.A.
Works. I
met my husband, Tom Hoctor (PL of the month, March
2003), at the Jiffy Lube in Santa Clarita and he’s
been part of L.A. Works for a long time. So when
L.A. Works Day 2000 came around he recruited me as
a task captain and I’ve
been involved ever since."
"I moved to LA from Danvers, Massachusetts four
years ago. While in Massachusetts I was involved
in various volunteer organizations. I worked
with the Key Club, Kiwanis, and New Directions doing
events with the elderly and charity fundraising."
"Along with doing L.A. Works Days I’ve
also led projects at the Alegria House for families
with HIV and AIDS. One of my favorite activities
there was decorating Christmas Cookies. For
years my family has been decorating Christmas cookies
and it was so wonderful to bring this tradition to
these kids. All
of the kids were covered in frosting and loving every
minute of it."
"I was also involved in organizing the Project
Leader Retreat. This was an amazing experience
and I met a lot of wonderful people that have inspired
me to keep volunteering."
"One of my favorite projects ever was right after
9/11 when we painted 74 murals on a westside school. It
was so wonderful seeing people from all different faiths
working together to make a run down school look beautiful."
"It's amazing how much
volunteering touches so many people. My fondest
memory of L.A. Works was on L.A. Works Day a couple of
years ago. After weeks of preparation, countless hours
spent on email and the phone to make sure everything
went smoothly, and four hours of craziness on the day
I was ready to go home and crash. I had no idea what
the kids were going to think of their school we just
painted. Then
all of a sudden a little girl ran up to the school and
touched it and said, “Pretty”. That
little girl made my day. Knowing that I had something
to do with her school looking beautiful brought tears
to my eyes. That is what volunteering is all about
-- bringing joy to someone’s day."
Ellen's tireless planning, and the tremendous
imagination and energy she brings to each project brings
her admiration from everyone she works with. She's
even put on trainings for her fellow Project leaders
to share the many games and activities she uses with
kids on her projects. Ellen's generosity of spirit
and fun-loving attitude makes her one of our favorite
project leaders. We're delighted to honor her this
month. Thanks Ellen!
Past
Project Leaders Recognition Pages
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 |
