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Community Corner

VIDEO: Big Sunday Charity Rounds Up Thousands of Volunteers to Work in California Communities

East Valley neighborhoods and community organizations will benefit from service projects.

The Town Square back lot at was off limits to last Sunday’s tram tour so that it could be taken over by Big Sunday. The volunteer organization was dispensing supplies and T-shirts to captains of hundreds of volunteer projects scheduled to take place on Big Sunday weekend, May 14 and 15.

Big Sunday founder and chief executive officer David Levinson called the weekend  “an enormous festival of service.” He tells you more in the video.

Dozens of corporate sponsors have also chipped in to help. I talked with representatives of Glidden Professional -- which supplied more than 1,000 gallons of paint -- who will also be working on Big Sunday projects. Representatives of Pine Sol were giving out cartons of the cleaning fluid for the myriad beautification projects scheduled to take place.

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's students, teachers and parents performed their Big Sunday service this past Sunday due to a scheduling conflict with the school's annual arts festival. Students were collecting for charities and making crafts. See the video to find out what happened to  they saved from floating into the ocean.

To get involved in Big Sunday projects throughout the Southland, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area, go to the sign up page

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Here are a few of the projects in the Sherman Oaks area taken from the Big Sunday website:

Project #33- Give Sherman Oaks a Day of Beauty

Date: Saturday, May 14

Time: 8 to 11 a.m.

Sherman Oaks Beautification committee will lead volunteers of all ages as they sweep, pick up litter, report and paint out graffiti, pull weeds, and generally clean and polish a swath of Sherman Oaks.

Said four-time project captain Leslie Elkan, “I am proud, once again, to have the opportunity to partner with Big Sunday on a community beautification project. Big Sunday has given Sherman Oaks the opportunity to gather community volunteers and resources in a major community beautification event. Big Sunday is a dream organization.”

 

Project #123- Spruce Up and Shape Up Maurice Sendak Elementary

Date: Saturday, May 14

Time: 8 a.m. to noon.

Students, parents, staff and community members will be planting and weeding. Sweeping and cleaning and in all ways beautifying their school grounds. Budget cuts in LAUSD mean that regular maintenance and cleaning of schools has been greatly reduced.

“It’s very exciting,” said captain Lourdes Sandoval. “It’s like a camp day. The atmosphere is very nice. Everybody is really happy helping. The kids, oh you should see their smiles.”

 

Project #136 (A) Support Our Troops with , Part II

Date: Saturday, May 14

Time: 1 to 4 p.m.

Operation hopes to expand its outreach to volunteers by joining Big Sunday for this prep and assembly weekend. Volunteers will be packing and shipping care packages to service members overseas.

“Operation Gratitude has sent more than half a million care packages filled with candy, gum, yo-yos, DVDs, disposable cameras, phone cards, toiletries, T-shirts, cell phones and more to our soldiers in the Middle East. They need hundreds of volunteers to help them keep up their great work!”

 

Project #310- Roll Up Your Sleeves at LAUSD's Model Garden

Date: Saturday, May 14

Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

LAUSD's Network for a Healthy California goal is to get students and their families to improve their health by eating more fruits and vegetables and eating healthier food. And the way they do this is through community gardens. This Van Nuys garden is a model for the entire LAUSD school system! Please join us for planting, weeding, and all other kinds of gardening at this amazing place.”

 

Project #13- Help Support Our Troops – and Join the Buzz – at St. Mike’s Hub

Date: Sunday, May 15

Time: Noon to 3 p.m.

“They’ll have a bake sale and a letter writing station and a drop-off donation site for front line troops. They also host a great VIP luncheon for wounded soldiers and their guests (and would love donations of gift cards to national chains to give to the soldiers). This year they’ll also have music from a choir made up of formerly homeless vets as well as the Harvard Westlake jazz band. There will be games, a bounce house, face painting for kids, and much more.”

David Rosenberg, director of , a project run through said “Big Sunday provides a way for the community to connect to soldiers in a real and compassionate way. To see the soldier’s faces who are our guests that day and to see them being welcomed,  means the world to them.”

 

Project #94 Have a Spring Fling at

Date: Sunday, May 15

Time: 1 to 6 p.m.

Big barbecue and rock and roll party for 250 families at their North Hollywood Shelter. There will be lots of food, games and music. Adat Ari El volunteers will be well represented, even in the band.

will also be running an unofficial Big Sunday project. The religious school will be bagging rice and beans for SOVA and writing Rosh Hashanah cards for Jewish service members for project M.O.T. A speaker from Project M.O.T. will talk at about 10:45, projects from 11 a.m. to noon. The synagogue expects about 150 parents and kids from 3rd - 6th grade to volunteer.

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