The best fun you can have for 25 cents in Los Angeles for one minute could soon be twice as expensive, when Angels Flight reopens after undergoing repairs, and the fare is doubled. more ›

Local fifth grade photography students are putting their creative skills to good use this November and December, using their art to benefit the environment. The G2 Gallery's Jared Nigro joined forces with Todd Lesner's class at Westminster Avenue Elementary School in Venice to teach Lesner's students the art of the lens. more ›

Our appreciation for the sporting life the Eagle Rock Yacht Club's Dodgeball League accords participants is nothing new. This short video profile of how the league became what organizers call a social experiment turned non-profit takes a look at what they do for the community when it comes to our parks and our youth. more ›

Compassion Over Killing, a Washington D.C.-based animal advocacy nonprofit, hosts Summer Soiree Under the Stars on Saturday, August 27. Both a garden party and film screening, the event features a four-course meal, screening of Forks Over Knives, Q&A with the film's Executive Producer Brian Wendel, live music and a live auction. more ›

As skateboarders turned out in droves for "Wild in the Streets," an event put on by clothing and shoe company Emerica, cops were at the ready to ticket mischievous skaters, should there be any. And indeed, there were. KABC reports that, "Skateboarders blocked streets, congested traffic and hung onto cars...Dozens of citations were issued. Some of the skaters were handcuffed, but there were no arrests made and no vandalism was reported." more ›

Community Coalition has a simple ask today: Give your vote on this Facebook page and Community Coalition could win a van to help transport after-school program participants to its center in South L.A. The contest runs until midnight and there are only a few other non-profits in the running (all ex-L.A.) so go on and give a click! more ›

TreePeople and Ed Begley, Jr., their "favorite environmental guru," host the first annual Green City Fair this Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 10am-4pm at the TreePeople headquarters in Coldwater Canyon Park. Pledging to "provide you with the resources to make healthy, sustainable changes," the fair is offering free sustainable workshops throughout the day, plus access to over 60 of L.A.'s greenest vendors. Workshop pre-registration is recommended and available online. more ›

Evade both church and sloth this Sunday, March 27, and head to the historic Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia for The Third Annual Pink Parlour Festival. A full day (11am-7pm) where "crafty women of the world unite," the festival showcases handmade products created by women. Approximately 150 participants are expected, including handmade crafters, small businesses catering to the handmade scene, visual artists, performing artists and more. Though the spotlight illuminates women, gentlemen, you are welcome to attend. And ladies, do not delay - the first 200 female attendees win giveaways provided by Leg Avenue. more ›

30 years ago former Beverly Hills hairdresser Michael McKinley did something different, something police said wouldn't work. He said he would produce a festival to ease tensions between the gay community and latino gangs with rival gangmembers working as security. What happened was that some 250,000 people came out to the Sunset Junction Street Festival in Silver Lake. No incidents were reported. more ›

When the 2009 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Report (.pdf) was released last Fall, it said there was a 38% drop in homelessness in the county. But that didn't make sense to the shelters and non-profits that claimed their services were overwhelmed. And today, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank released a report furthering facts about an increase in services for the needy. more ›

Bad news for one of the region's major cultural players: Pasadena Playhouse employees learned yesterday that come February 7th, after the final performance of the current staged production, they will be out of a job, according to the LA Times. With $500,000 in bills in addition to $1.5 million owed in loans have leaders looking into the possibility of bankruptcy. Although there is $6 million in their possession, that money can only be used for refurbishing the building. The theatre opened in 1917. more ›

Hundreds of people came out to City Labs' first community service fair Saturday at the California Market Center. The fair showcased nearly 50 Los Angeles non-profit organizations and featured demos and workshops as well as raffles and prizes for attendees. Sonja Rasula, who recently brought Unique LA to the same space and was named one of LA's young community leaders, organized the event to "attract 'the masses' in order to engage community, provide an outlet for education and awareness, and to increase community service." more ›

If you've made helping out a priority in 2010, but don't know where to begin, grab a $5 bill and head over to Downtown today from 11-4 to check out dozens of great options at the CityLabs Community Fair event. more ›

Try walking into any grocery store and you pretty quickly realize there’s no shortage of causes to donate money to. You could save some cats, for example, or help build a basketball court. You could donate directly to the homeless, or even think about the veterans. Simply put, the world doesn’t just need help - more often than not it needs YOUR help. So what’s the average compassionate human to do? Is there one cause that can combine the future of our planet with the immediacy of the human need, plus a heaping helping of cuteness to help seal the deal? Perhaps. Consider the World Child Project. more ›

Fortunately, the former head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tustin pleaded guilty in court today and could face four years in prison, says KPCC. Although Clifford Lewis Polston worked for the club for 30 years, between 2001 and 2007 he used $33,000 of the organization's money to pay off his credit cards, vacation rentals, plane tickets and parking. Not only that, he gave his wife a fictitious consulting job for $72,800. And if that was not enough... When the board of directors grew suspicious after an audit, he resigned, but not before changing the sick time payout policy in his favor. He then tried to sue them for $76,000 in accrued sick time. more ›

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times claims that the rate of homelessness in L.A. County has dropped 38% since 2007. Despite the somewhat promising numbers, Los Angeles continues to sustain the largest homeless population in the United States, along with the unfortunate status as “homelessness capital” of the country. In the face of this dire situation stands a robust little warrior, the two-year-old non-profit organization Imagine LA, whose central idea is to match each of the 8,000 homeless families in Los Angeles with one of its 8,000 faith communities. more ›

The Daily News reports that a local nonprofit is seeking help from Southern Californians who have a taste for adventure: "Iemanya Oceanica is organizing a shark-tagging research expedition to Baja California next month and is seeking up to 20 scuba divers/snorkelers from Southern California to help." If you go, you'll be looking for Whale Sharks, which are described as "the largest living fish species on the planet, which can "grow up to 40 feet long, weigh up to 15 tons and live up to 70 years." But, phew: "Although they have very large mouths, they are harmless, feeding solely on plankton, which are microscopic marine" more ›

On the heels of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's announcement about a locally grown food policy, a move by city council has some farmers markets concerned about their survival. On September 1, the L.A. City Council passed a special events ordinance, changing the rules about how and which events are eligible to have fees waived for expenses like street closures. Some community events such as block parties get a break, but farmers markets do not under the current language. more ›

Last week, the nation's largest anti-gang program was looking at their own financial crisis. After Friday, Homeboy Industries would have been out of money, thanks to the economy that blew a $5 million hole into the nonprofit's budget this year. For a place with the slogan "nothing stops a bullet like a job," they were considering furloughs. more ›

Stoked Mentoring is a non-profit in Los Angeles and New York that uses sports to connect with disadvantaged teenagers, offering them life skills and mentors through surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. May 2-3, the organization follows up last year's successful fundraiser with two "Stoked Sessions" art shows at Upper Playground downtown. Over 200 artists donated original art created around the theme "I Heart LA" for the show -- 100% of the proceeds will go to directly to Stoked. A gallery featuring selected works is available at the event's Flickr page. more ›

The non-profit group Angels in Waiting thought they had an offer "OctoMom" Nadya Suleman couldn't refuse: "round-the-clock nursing care to her 14 children, while allowing her entire family to live in a home together," according to the Press-Telegram. more ›

When the economy hits the big boys, it also hurts the homeboys. Now, we're not talking about the ones the City Attorney is planning to sue, but we are about the hard working nonprofit Homeboy Industries, which helps youth and former gang members become positive members of society. Celeste at Witness LA finds out about their hiring freeze: "In fact, they will be lucky if they can make payroll for their existing workers. Added to that, the jobs the Homeboy staff used to be able to find for the scores and scores of young men and women who come through their doors weekly looking for work, seem to have all but vaporized." So not only does the bottom line hurt in general, but the fact that they can't place people in jobs--which is part of their mission--because no one else is hiring impacts Homeboy on both sides. more ›

As with years past, the Sunset Junction Street Festival has been somewhat of a contentious point between the community and well, let's face it, the small part of the community that puts this event on. more ›

Skipping the bureaucracies of Metro and the city's own Department of Transportation, a coalition of downtown stakeholders, including government officials, voted last week to create a nonprofit to build a 3-mile streetcar line that would travel mostly along Broadway from LA Live to the some-day Grand Avenue Project. more ›

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 be raised by June 2nd in order for the school to open. The school will provide a safe haven where children receive basic necessities as well as the tools they need to flourish as individuals and achieve their dreams and highest potential, says organizer Marisa Godoy. It goes from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., but the open wine bar will only serve from 7-9 p.m. ($25) more ›

This is a purposefully backdated post for a National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) workshop called "The New Frontier Part Two: Blogging, Social Networking and YouTube!" organized by the LA Stage Alliance with guest speakers D. Jean Hester and LAist Editor, Zach Behrens. The following are notes and reference links for workshop participants. more ›

One of the most difficult things about running--or any exercise regimen for that matter--is simply getting started. Joining a running group or club is a great way to ease into it, and so today and in future installments of Workout Wednesday, we will explore the many running groups in the area you can choose from. We'll start with Team in Training. more ›

Want to buy a two-story, four bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house with a view of a local artistic and historic landmark for a price tag of around $400,000? They've got custom cabinetry, marble counter tops, walk-in closets, and two-car garages to boot. Sounds pretty sweet! more ›