A redneck, a Hasidic Jew, and Michael Jackson walked into a bar. No punchline here ... just some funny photos. This Saturday a flip cup tournament was held in Hollywood to raise money to fight breast cancer. If flip cup and charity seem like strange bedfellows, well ... yes, they are. Some of the outfits were even stranger. Larry and Cheech's Second Annual Flip for the Love welcomed over 200 do-gooders, with most of the......

Need an activity for your inner philanthropist? Try drinking beer. Larry & Cheech's 2nd Annual "Flip For The Love" is a flip-cup tournament benefiting the John Wayne Cancer Institute and the Vail Valley Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation. It's going down this Saturday in Hollywood. Teams of four pay an entrance fee of $80 (individuals can enter for $25 each), which includes all beer for the tournament. Spectators can enjoy the madness for $7 and additional......

It was a beautiful night at the Los Angeles Zoo; perfect weather and a perfect setting made the LA Zoo's annual "Beastly Ball" an event to remember. Celebrities and guests wandered the grounds of the zoo, feasting on gorgeous dishes prepared by the city's best restaurateurs and interacting with friendly animals like a boa constrictor, an armadillo, and a gray horned owl. Participating restaurants included Yamashiro, Typhoon, Pink's, Malo, El Cholo, Fabiolus Café and many,......

On the heels of the annual Great LA River CleanUp comes another large do-gooding river activity tomorrow morning. 2,000 people from Heal the Bay, the NAACP, PAVA and ANAHUAK will be cleaning the Glendale Narrows section of the LA River along with Councilman Eric Garcetti and other neighborhood and organization leaders. "The L.A. River is something we all have in common. Only if all communities work together will we be able to restore and revitalize......

Photo by AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes Even the animals in L.A. get top notch chefs cooking for them. Well, they do at least once a year in a preview for the Beastly Ball, an annual bash at the LA Zoo for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, a non-profit that supports the city's zoo. This year, the gala celebrates the California Condor Recovery Project and takes place on June 14 with tickets at $1000. Restaurants......

The Flight of the Conchords play two sold-out (boo!) concerts this weekend via their MySpace page There are two upcoming music fundraising events of interest. At King King on Sunday, Ben Lee, Crash Kings and DJ David Roberti will all play a benefit concert to raise funds for a school that will serve the children of the Tashirat Orphanage and the impoverished children in the surrounding community of Tepoztlan, Mexico. Enough funds need to......

Actor Kirk Douglas gives children at the Lillian Elementary School a high five in Los Angeles Wednesday, May 28, 2008 (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Since 1997, actor Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne have donated about one playground renovation per week to Los Angeles area schools. Yesterday at Lillian Elementary School in South LA marked their 401st and last. The playground project began in 1997 "while Anne Douglas was reading in the Los Angeles Times......

Since billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has funded Los Angeles institutions such as LACMA's BCAM and UCLA's Stem Cell Institute, Curbed LA asked its readers what he should spend his money on next if it were to be a civic project. The "Subway to the Sea" won with overwhelming results....

February may well be the month of the year we think about love the most, but our local schools are banking on us sharing our love with them right now, too. This month, a project called "LA Loves Its Schools" is taking place. It's a donation drive based on the pages of DonorsChoose.Org that calls for caring individuals to pitch in a little to help local schools, classrooms, and teachers get the things they need......

Just two of the many dogs found this past weekend on a Lancaster ranch. Photo by Laura Gunn Over the weekend we told you about the 400 animals rescued from a Lancaster ranch, and the need for help with donations or adoptions to save the many abused and neglected animals. One of the volunteers who was at the ranch helping with the rescue, Laura Gunn shared with us an update and the photos she......

LAist Featured Photos contributer, mil8, went along with his neighbor and friend on "an annual trip down to Skid Row to hand-out clothes, blankets and hygiene kits to LA's down & out in hopes to spark a better next year for them." This year he brought a camera. More photos after the jump in a YouTube photo collage video.......

Freaking out? Don't know what to give tomorrow? Here are a few ideas with a conscious in mind: GOOD Magazine: This locally based do-gooding magazine has been impressing many across the country over the past year. In fact, a subscription to this bi-monthly publication is one of our favorite ideas. If GOOD is not your giftee's style, there are about a million other magazines to gift them.Greendimes: Give the gift no more junk mail. Starting......

In remembrance of the many lives lost in the 2004 South Asian tsunami, the public is invited to gather at a candlelight vigil with representatives of Sri Lankan organizations on Dec. 26, 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Monica Pier. Prayers will be offered by several religious denominations (Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim), followed by a moment of silence. Participants will release flowers into the ocean as the memorial service comes to an end. The......

Not sure what to buy your environmentally conscious friend or family member for the holidays? Opting to make this holiday season's giving more earth-friendly? You may want to check out this weekend's Eco Gift Expo, which:will provide everything you would hope to find including beauty products, fashion, yoga products, sports, bags, shoes, candles, home decor, toys and much more... and everything at the expo is good for the planet, mind, body and spirit. You......

TOYS FOR TOTS Everyone has that one special moment when it really starts to feel like Christmas. It might be shopping Thanksgiving weekend, baking cookies or buying the tree. For me, it is that magical moment while stuck in traffic when I am taken unawares by a phalanx of motorcycles zooming by carrying giant stuffed bears on the back. That is truly the spirit of Christmas. The bikers are part of an annual Toys for......

The Whole 9 is hosting their holiday party tomorrow (Tuesday) night from 6-9:30PM and would like to invite you to come! What started as an online community where creative, entrepreneurial open-minded people can meet and share, showcase their work and get work has turned into a creative space and art gallery in Culver City. The gallery has shows where the artists are selected from portfolios on The Whole 9 website. The host of the most......

Twisted Sister, Metal Skool, the Iron Maidens, and Jani Lane of Warrant are putting on a benefit concert this Friday to support wounded veterans and the families of soldiers overseas. Expect Twisted Sister to rock hits from their Twisted Christmas album (see video after the jump). Doors open at 5:00pm at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, with the show starting about an hour later. Get there early so you have time to adjust your......

Did you know that residents of Los Angeles County use 6 billion plastic bags a year, and only 5% of bags in the US are recycled? In the state of California the average person uses 552 bags, according to the environmental organization Heal the Bay. These bags are then left to choke up our waterways, landfills, streets, and urban landscapes, causing harm to animal life and our ecosystem. This is why Heal the Bay, along......

The Mods and Rockers invite all Beatles fans, Anglophiles and latent mods and rockers to attend A Holiday Rave-up: A Very British Sixties Christmas! tomorrow night. This celebration of sixties music will feature The Ravers, the premier sixties cover band. Special guests performing with The Ravers will be Stephen Bishop (On And On, It Might Be You) and Spencer Davis (Gimme Some Loving, I'm A Man). I saw Spencer Davis perform with The Ravers......

The 4th annual international food bloggers holiday fundraiser, Menu For Hope, kicks off its twelve day run Monday. The virtual event is hosted by Pim Techamuanvivit, who runs the food blog Chez Pim and whose desire to help out those devastated by the tsunami five years ago in Southeast Asia led her to devise Menu For Hope. Last year US$62,925.12 was raised through the event, and was donated to the UN World Food Programme. Here's......

There is nothing like combining fashion and philanthropy. Tomorrow night, the Los Angeles flagship store for Martin & Osa is have a launch party for the opening of their store in Century City. The stylish fashion company has generously donated $5,000 to Step Up Women's Network and the event will feature shopping (optional), cocktails and bites, and time to mingle with friends and to meet new people. While Step Up Women's Network is for......

I'm spending Thanksgiving with my husband and two young daughters in the Bay Area. So this year I am thankful for sharing some San Francisco treats with my kids: Cable Cars Ghiradelli Hot Fudge Sundaes Vietnamese food at The Slanted Door Sourdough Bread And candy and cakes at Miette. I am also thankful for the Jewish World Watch Solar Cooker Project. The solar cookers help the women in refugee camps in Chad have a......

A million people can't be wrong, right? Metro has released six well-produced television spots featuring a man harassing interviewing Metro riders on why they Go Metro. MetroRiderLA says he might be a little "douchey," yet the spots will most likely and hopefully be effective. We think it will too, especially for those who like to have more time to play Soduku. One of the photos taken early last week amidst the wildfires was one......

We get a lot of press releases. The other day we got one from PETA announcing that they have Steve-O running around naked for them. We were all, yeah that's cool, but who hasn't seen Steve-O naked? Then we thought - wait a damn minute. How is PETA cool with Steve-O after four or five seasons of him and Chris Pontius fucking with any sort of animal they could find? We hear all these......

Photo of Volunteer Park in Seattle by sunrisesoup via Flickr Forget New Years resolutions! Now is the perfect time to make a change in your life and make a difference the lives of others. Here's a very brief list of just a few organizations around L.A. that are currently looking for volunteers. For additional resources visit www.vcla.net or www.laworks.com. Animal Support Friends of Animals- works to cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living......

The annual Epilepsy Freedom Walk took place this morning in Griffith Park with honorary chairman Greg Grunberg of "Heroes" fame leading the crowd of supporters. We have previously highlighted this event here on LAist. To find out how you can help the work of the Epilopsy Foundation, visit The Epilepsy Foundation. Photos after the jump.........

It’s been over two and a half years since the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami killed an estimated 200,000 people. Apart from updates commemorating the anniversary in the mainstream media, new stories of rebuilding and the long-term aftermath have been a challenge to find. This Sunday, a sample sale open to the public for Suba Ude, a cooperative of tsunami-affected seamstresses in Matara, Sri Lanka, will take place at a private residence in Venice. Hosted......

On Sunday, October 14 the Epilepsy Foundation will host their annual Freedom Walk in Griffith Park. I spoke with Greg Grunberg, the Honorary Chair of the walk, about his involvement with the organization. "It's a fun two hour walk in Griffith Park. We are raising a lot of money for The Epilepsy Foundation. Our team is called the Crazy Brainwaves. It's led by my eleven year old son Jake who has had epilepsy since he......

Last Sunday, September 23rd, Dr. Jane Goodall head-lined the International Day of Peace with Roots and Shoots, a global network of youth dedicated to protecting human rights through environment-centered campaigns. Children marched with giant home-made peace puppets as environment and human rights organizations were on hand to provide information and network with locals. Goodall mingled for a while, greeting children and petting dogs before leading the Peace Dove marchers through Griffith Park. After demonstrating......

It’s easy to forget that there’s a thriving literary scene here in LA. It’s also easy to lose sight of the fact that there are people who are committed to doing good, making change and making the city a better place for the next generation. 826LA manages to combine all of these things at once. The brainchild of hipster deity Dave Eggers, the family of non-profits now known as 826 National was originated in......