January 19, 2009 Written by Joli Selten
Join the revolution of consciousness and President Elect, Barack Obama, and celebrate Dr. King’s birthday by volunteering in your community. Whether your high school student needs to satisfy his or her community outreach requirement for graduation, or whether you feel like turning your frown upside down by being of service, here’s a list to help you get involved and make a difference in our world by starting at a grassroots level and volunteering in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Volunteer Centers:
L.A. Works:
“L.A. Works is a nonprofit, volunteer action center”
323.224.6510
www.laworks.com
HIV/AIDS
Being Alive: People with HIV/AIDS Action Coalition
(323) 874-4322
The Life Group:
“The Life Group LA is a coalition of people dedicated to the education, empowerment and emotional support of persons both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS so that they may make informed choices and decisions regarding their healthcare and personal well being.”
888-208-8081
http://thelifegroupla.org/volunteer.html
Union Rescue Mission: Homeless Shelter and Soup Kitchen
(213) 673-4814
http://www.urm.org/site/c.hdJFKNNoFiG/b.4465499/k.9BB3/Volunteer_Center.htm
Hospitality Kitchen aka Hippie Kitchen
(323) 267-8789
http://lacatholicworker.org/visiting-and-volunteering
Los Angeles Public Library: Adult Literacy Program
Central Library Info: 213-228-7272
http://www.lapl.org/literacy/volunteer.html
Volunteer Center of Los Angeles
818-908-5066
Reading to Kids: Monthly reading clubs
310-479-7455
Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles
213-237-6643
http://literacynetwork.org/literacynetwork_la/
Our House:
Non-profit bereavement center
310-475-0299
818-222-3344
I Have a Dream Foundation
213.572.0175
http://www.ihadla.org/getinvolved.aspx
The Painted Turtle:
The Painted Turtle is the sixth addition to Paul Newman’s family of Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill children.
310.451.1353
http://www.thepaintedturtle.org/turtle/
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
323-644-4703
http://www.lsazoo.org/volunteer/
SPCALA: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(323) 730-5300 x255
http://spcala.com/volunteers/voluninf.shtml
Heal the Bay:
“Heal the Bay is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to making Southern California costal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean.”
800-HEAL BAY x145
http://www.healthebay.org/volunteer/default.asp
826 LA
“826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.”
826LA West (310) 305-8418
826LA East (213) 413-3388
Tree People
“TreePeople is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the Los Angeles area for over three decades. Simply put, our work is about helping nature heal our cities.”
(818) 753-4600
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I had a really good time volunteering at Heal the Bay/Will Rogers Park this past Sunday. What I enjoyed most was talking with my 2 other partners while we were picking up the trash – we asked questions like: “Why doesn’t LA outlaw styrofoam?”, “How can we get evey Joe Schmoe out there to respect the environment and not litter?”, “Even if we did all do our part, is the damage already done so much that we have little hope for a clean future?” and “How can places like India, Mexico and China try to instil a culture of recycling as their population growth dictates global patterns?”. I highly recommend volunteering with Heal the Bay…it’s also a great excuse to get out to the beach each month. I think it’s the 3rd Sunday of each month and rotates around different beaches in LA county. Next month is Venice I believe.
Thanks for the comment! Beach clean ups always take place on the third Saturday of the month with Heal the Bay (weather permitting). On the third Sundays of the month they do creek restorations, usually at Malibu Creek State Park. Both events need help so participating in either a great help to our wetlands and water systems in L.A.
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