Emily Lerman

Photo courtesy of Ben Morrison. Thursday, February 12th is shaping up to be a busy night for LA, especially in terms of tech-related events. In addition to Twiistup, LA will also host it's first 'Twestival', an event happening in 200 cities all over the world, to benefit Charity:Water, an organization dedicated to providing developing nations with clean water. 'Twestival' takes advantage of the power of Twitter to bring people together for a charitable cause...

Established in 2002 thanks to a donation by warehouse owner Richard Meruelo, Skid Row's Excess Personal Property Warehouse is still the only of its kind in the nation. The Central City East Association created the warehouse out of the need clean up the streets and decrease the amount of homeless encampments by providing Skid Row's homeless with a place to keep their belongings. Today's LA Times features an article and photos from the warehouse....

The 2009 Los Angeles Homeless Count began last night, primarily covering the Westside including Venice, Santa Monica and West LA. One-hundred or so volunteers of all ages met in Culver City to split into teams and receive instructions on how to properly count. While some volunteers already had their own teams, this LAister showed up solo and quickly found other friendly and like-minded people to join. LAHSA assigned each group of 4 of 6...

Photo by Emily Lerman/LAist 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. 2009 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Tuesday night marks the beginning of Los Angeles Homeless...

The Neighborhood Map hanging in GOOD's offices on Melrose (Photo by Emily Lerman for LAist) GOOD is the model for the future. Or at least it should be. On Thursday, December 18, as part of their GOOD December events, they hosted GOOD Design LA. The room teemed with people full of energy and a love for Los Angeles. GOOD embodies the magic (and good) that occurs when a solid group of people with a...

The leftovers from one of the many food-drop offs that occur on Skid Row. Photo by Emily Lerman/LAist December's Skid Row Neighborhood Watch Walk was lightly attended, likely due to the tree lighting events happening at LA Live. As always, the walk went on, and as always, the walk was unlike any prior walks. While feelings of sadness, confusion and hopelessness had ensued after previous walks, this one offered a new, fresh and somewhat hopeful...

Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills | Photo by fotonomous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr We love Mannheim Steamroller, but when the clock strikes disco:thirty on Christmas day, bust out Gregory Jenkins' "Sexy Christmas" and dance. Mmmmhmmm. Gregory Jenkins - "Sexy Christmas" &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://www.gregtronic.com/music/02%20Sexy%20Christmas.mp3">...

Hope Wine donates 50% of their profits to charitable organizations! Photo by Emily Lerman/LAist PhiLAnthropist's last minute picks for gifts that give more...check out the first PhiLAnthropist Gift Guide for more ideas. Heath Ceramics' Chez Panisse Line supports the Chez Panisse Foundation, as 5% of the proceeds go to their "educational program that uses food to nurture, educate and empower youth." A few weeks ago LAist previewed the new Heath Ceramics Los Angeles Store. HOPE...

The future of toy cars? The H-Racer is the smallest hydrogen powered car in the world. All photos courtesy of The Ultimate Green Store.com LAist had a chance to talk with LA-resident and "green-shopping" expert Laura Meyer, founder and CEO of the recently launched TheUltimateGreenStore.com. Meyer took the time to share her green gift picks and shopping tips and fill us in on what to expect for green products in 2009. What lead you to...

Machine Project in Echo Park, which "exists to encourage heroic experiments of the gracefully over-ambitious," was to receive a 35k grant this month, but given the economic state, the grant was canceled. The organization runs on donations and now they are worried about making their rent payments. Machine Head recently participated in a one day take over of the LACMA and are calling on all LACMA friends to help by donating money, purchasing a membership...