Results tagged “volunteer”

One year ago this Thursday, the Freeway Complex fire broke out. The 30,305-acre fire destroyed 314 homes. Two years ago this past Sunday, the Santiago Fire ignited, eventually burning through 28,517 acres and destroying 14 homes.

A volunteer opportunity for those who can handle the adrenaline: "Ventura County Search and Rescue East Valley Team 3 (VCSAR 3) is comprised of highly dedicated and skilled volunteers who are able to respond to wilderness emergencies in Ventura County. VCSAR 3 team members are extensively trained in search techniques, technical rope rescue, tracking, swiftwater rescue, communications, winter operations, urban search and rescue, and search management."

Whether you live in the Valley or near the coast, we are all connected. That piece of trash sitting in an Encino curb could easily be swept into the storm drain system or L.A. River, traveling to the beach and into the Pacific Ocean. This Saturday, Heal the Bay and other organizations hope for 15,000 volunteers at more than 70 inland and beach locations for the 25th annual international Coastal Cleanup Day (and the 19th for the event to happen locally).

Good news. Authorities with the Angeles National Forest say that the Station Fire has now been contained to 91 percent with full containment expected on Saturday. The size of the fire remains at 160,557, roughly 250 square miles.

We've seen, smelt and been saddened by the destruction of the deadly Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. Containment is expected next week and soon after a new phase will be entered into: rebirth. "After we get in there and assess what damages need to be repaired, there will be opportunity for volunteers to help the Forest Service repair some of this stuff," explained Howard Okamoto, the Recreation Officer for the Los Angeles River Ranger District, which was the area most affected by the blaze. He said activities will likely include tree plantings and trail work, but once a list of needs is developed, more projects opportunities will be announced. In the meantime, those interested in volunteering should contact Okamoto to be placed on a list to be notified when projects are ready to go. He can be reached at 818-899-1900 x229 or better yet by e-mail at hokamoto [at] fs.fed.us.

With a stellar music lineup set for Sept. 5, FYF Fest is presenting Save Our State Parks to raise awareness about the closure of 100 parks in California. They aren't just stopping there, FYF Fest is harnessing its draw as an amazing music festival and encouraging people to volunteer at a variety of charities and organizations in the greater LA area. As a reward for donating 20 hours of your time, the festival is offering two free tickets and a "care package" of freebies. The exchange program has already proven popular with almost two dozen local organizations benefiting like the Union Rescue Mission, Northeast Trees, Reading to Kids LA and many more. Spaces have filled up fast, but slots still remain open for those who'd like to volunteer for film non-profit CineFamily.

While many not-for-profits are struggling when it comes to funding and donations, one more positive fallout of this little recession is an increase in volunteer hours. LA's Zach Istrin and Justin Bird are perfect examples of this wave of volunteerism. With more time on their hands, they decided to start volunteering, a lot. With hopes of raising awareness and motivating other young people, they began writing about all their experiences on their blog, the LA Karma Project. So for anyone who has been thinking about donating some of their time, the LA Karma Project is a great starting point for reading about some first-hand experiences with different LA organizations, such as Project Angel Food and Shane's Inspiration. Zach and Justin were kind enough to answer some of our questions and offer up some good advice...you can even join them on one of their volunteer adventures.

Tonight, Causecast.org and Ben Morrison (LAist interview) host "A Cause for Comedy" at the Hollywood Improv. This is the first show in a monthly series which will raise money for local charities. LA's own Project Angel Food (volunteer opportunities) is the first beneficiary. 100% of the proceeds will go to the organization dedicated to providing home cooked meals to those suffering from HIV, AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. As the video below shows, the impact of these services goes beyond just nourishing these people back to health; the customized food deliveries help to instill a genuine sense of hope and caring.

Giving time and energy to your community is a fun and easy way to help others--especially when we're in a time when we might not have cash to spare but we've got our hands and hearts. Let's make it a really Big Sunday, Los Angeles!

The Soloist, set and filmed in LA's Skid Row, opens nation-wide today. We've written about Skid Row many times with hopes that a continued spotlight on the area will raise awareness and motivate individuals to get involved and work for change, beyond serving meals around the holiday season. The Soloist will certainly brighten that spotlight as it confronts issues of homelessness, poverty and mental illness, and the movie's producer, Participant Media, seems to share our sentiments. They have created two sites, takepart.com/thesoloist and thesoloist.volunteermatch.org that provide an extensive listing of organizations and volunteer opportunities. The first site lists some great organizations downtown while the latter provides people outside of LA with resources for getting involved with their own local organizations.

Last Wednesday, GOOD and Knight Pulse partnered up to honor the five individuals they awarded for their involvement in various community projects addressing local and global issues.

On the South side of Melrose, right after La Brea, a small office building displays the word GOOD in big block letters through the large windows. Fittingly, it is the home of GOOD, the magazine 'for people who give a damn'. Founded in 2006 by the then 26-year-old Ben Goldhirsh, GOOD seeks to 'inform' and 'inspire', covering issues from Van Jones and green-collar jobs to street food to providing laptops to children in developing countries to economist Jeffrey Sachs' take on the state of the planet. It's a tough time for journalism, with the recent end of the Rocky Mountain News, Plenty and the elephantjournal, but Goldhirsh is figuring out how to use the tools of today, the energy of today and the climate of today to actively engage people and drive change. The magazine also donates their subscription revenue to one of twelve not-for-profits each year and, according to the most recent issue, has contributed over $1 million to 21 different not-for-profits to date.

The Watts House Project (video) goes way beyond your average neighborhood beautification projects. It is large-scale "collaborative artwork in the name of neighborhood redevelopment" that seeks to engage a variety of individuals, from the residents of 107th street, to artists, to educators and community members. The project, according to artist and director, will Edgar Arceneaux, transform and remodel all 20 residences on the street through a collaboration with an artist, architect and resident of the property.

Over the past few years, the exotic Sahara mustard plant has been aggressively spreading across the Joshua Tree National Park, possibly threatening the desert ecosystem and leaving irreversible damage. Perhaps the most noticeable damage to a visitor is the affect to the beautiful annual wildflower blooms.

Here at LAist, we're always happy to take leads and tips from out tips@laist.com box about issues you are having in your neighborhood, commute, etc. We were happy to see our Orange Line post get picked up and now being worked on by the city and we are always looking for more issues to be brought to light.

Photo courtesy of Ben Morrison.

       

Census Tract 1210.20 has no homeless. That's at least how it was on Tuesday night, the first of three nights of the Los Angeles Homeless Count, which is mandated every two years in order for the LA Homeless Services Authority to keep their federal funding.

When we first met Andrea Ambrose, she e-mailed us a photo of decapitated chickens she found at a neighborhood clean up asking if we knew anything about it. We looked into it but also took great interest in her organization, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Clean Up Project (LANCUP). On Martin Luther King Jr. Day when then-President-Elect Barack Obama encouraged Americans to serve their country, the little-known volunteer group had 250 people come out to participate to beautify Silver Lake (to see their track record, everything they've done is marked on this Google Map).

Obama's national day of service last Monday hopefully inspired people to get out for more than just one day of service and truly get involved in their communities. PhiLAnthropist wants to help spread the word about the people and organizations in LA working to give back. Send us an email with volunteer opportunities or suggestions.

For some, this it not even a holiday where you get the day off, but to the normal world (government, banks, etc), this is a holiday. And if you want to take that seriously and honor the man it is named after, Obama has made that possible with his huge Renew America Together program. The LA Neighborhood Cleanup Project is getting together in Silver Lake at 10 a.m. to clean up the neighborhood an there are plenty of other events around town.

Many businesses and institutions will be closed around the nation and in Los Angeles tomorrow in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although most people are perfectly pleased to spend the third day of a three-day weekend lolling about in bed, hunkering down in front of the television set, or enjoying some fun in our winter sun, there's a large-scale movement focused on making tomorrow about doing good for others and not just yourself.

This year, Santa Monica began to inventory their resident homeless population to find the most vulnerable and high-risk in order to begin intensive services and help get them off the street. 131 were found and so far, 51 one of them are off the streets as of November. 18 of those are now in permanent housing (14%) and the other 33 (25%) are in temporary housing. Another homeless census is coming up in January and Santa Monica is looking for volunteers. For more details on volunteering, check here.

The loss of 1.25 million jobs (yeah, 1,250,000!) in the last three months clearly has an impact on the demand (and need) for social services. On the flip side, the not-for-profits are struggling as they face budget cuts and sharp declines in donations. An increase in demand coupled with a decrease in supply...not too encouraging, especially around the holidays. Sunday's LA Time's included a "Guide for the Newly Poor" (h/t LA Homeless Blog) .On that note, here are some upcoming volunteer opportunities for the week.

Call 626.240.4550 x542 or email for more details; families and children welcome.

Today, Mayor Villaraigosa is encouraging residents to join the City of Los Angeles Crisis Response Team (CRT), a group of volunteer residents that go on scene of emergencies to provide crisis intervention and to give referrals for victims and families who have been traumatized by, a death, a serious injury, a violent crime or other traumatic incident.

TOP CHEF: Well not exactly, but the Covenant House in Hollywood seeks guest chefs to share their love of cooking and baking with 18-21 year old homeless youth on Sunday evenings. The Covenant House provides food, shelter and counseling as well as education, job skills training, and employment placement to youth living on the street in hopes of forging a brighter future for each individual. They offer mentoring opportunities as well. Contact their volunteer coordinator for more details.

Not only will there tens of thousands of volunteers participating in Heal The Bay's Coastal Cleanup Day tomorrow morning, but thousands more will be tree planting, painting our graffiti, taking a workshop and picking up trash at 40 or so sites around South LA for the Mayor's Day of Service.

Submitted & Authored by Emily Lerman

Submitted and authored by Emily Lerman

       

Submitted and authored by Michael Zampelli