Big Sunday happily welcomes you to Our Really Big Community Calendar.
We try to include all kinds of volunteering and helping opportunities for all kinds of interests, talents, passions, and ages! As you’ll see, these include volunteering opportunities (one-time and long-term) as well as the chance to support a nonprofit by attending fundraising events. Plus, of course, we include all of Big Sunday’s homegrown events, too! Whoever you are, and whatever you do, there is someone out there who could use your help.
If you have questions about our calendar, or would like to add a listing, please contact calendar@bigsunday.org or submit your event/opportunity via the button below.
There are countless ways to volunteer and make an impact in someone's life at LA Family Housing (LAFH). Below are just a few examples!
Dining Hall: Interested in an opportunity that includes more interaction with clients? Work alongside LAFH’s fabulous kitchen staff to prepare a meal and visit with individual residents in Bridge Housing as they dine. Volunteer individually or groups up to 20 can be accommodated.
Donation Sorting: Are you a natural organizer? Do you like hands-on work? LAFH receives a wide array of in-kind donations such as household items, personal care products, and clothing. Help their staff in organizing and sorting these donations. This is a great team-building opportunity for groups!
Welcome Desk: Are you friendly and helpful? Assist LAFH’s busy staff in fielding resident questions at Bridge Housing for individuals. Individual opportunity. Training and regular commitment required.
Office Support: Are your closets meticulously organized? LAFH wants your help to sort, file, label, and perform other fun organizing tasks that involve reams of paper and electronic data.
Share your Talent: Do you have a talent or skill that you would like to share with LAFH residents? They would love to learn it! Recent activities include filmmaking and journalism workshops, singing lessons, sewing and cooking instruction, sports club and dance classes.
To schedule a tour or learn more about any LAFH volunteer opportunities, contact the Volunteer Services Coordinator at volunteer@lafh.org or 818-255-2775.
NOTE: There are ONGOING weekly volunteer opportunities!
Take part “Sistahs, Sexuality, and Mental Health Wellbeing,” a conference that will take place on Friday, April 28th 2017, from 10 am – 2 pm at the Department of Water and Power located at 4030 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. This project emerged out of partnerships between UCLA, Healthy African American Families (HAAF), Los Angeles Women’s Collaborative on HIV/AIDS, Fox Hills Ladera Healthy Family Association, Oasis Clinic, and I Choose Life in efforts to address the increase in sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STIs/STDs) that are occurring among African American women aged 50+.
The series of dialogue groups (4 groups of 10-12 African American women aged 50+) to discuss topics about sexual health practices and mental health wellbeing as it pertains to aging has been completed. Responses from the groups were transcribed and the data was analyzed to identify specific themes that emerged that are potential areas of attention and intervention. A majority of the women identified difficulty with broaching conversations about sexual health with their physicians and partners and mental health issues as reasons for why older women in our community may engage in risky sexual practices.
The purpose of this conference is to invite you as well as other members of the community to discuss the research findings from these groups as well engage in a conversation about some next steps for community prevention and intervention. A dynamic panel of speakers have been gathered, including Yolanda Whittington, LCSW (Department of Mental Health), Claudia Spears, RN (Holman Methodist Church), and Nola Thomas, MA who have specific expertise on this topic. Dr. Velma Union (Founder of One-Light International) will moderate the panel session. Please attend!
Click on this link to register and see the program schedule: https://sas50.splashthat.com/
Become a volunteer for Meals on Wheels West (MOW) Los Angeles and help deliver meals between 10:15 am and 12:30 pm any Monday – Friday! Student volunteers are always welcome at MOW. Younger students can help with various tasks in MOW’s office or be paired with one of their regular drivers or with a parent to help deliver food to clients. High school and college students who already are licensed drivers are especially appreciated as reinforcements to MOW’s regular corps of volunteers. MOW is happy to record your community service hours and send that information to your school.
NOTE: This is an ONGOING weekly volunteer opportunity!
The good folks at Hollywood HEART — a nonprofit dedicated to developing character strengths, confidence, and resiliency in at-risk youth through purposeful engagement in the arts — are in need of a few great volunteers!
Volunteers will be helping 36 amazing high school kids in varied grade levels ranging from 9th to 12th grades during the 6th period ICAP class at Los Angeles High School. The class, which covers a wearable art unit combining 3D sculpture, fashion, jewelry and more, is for enrolled LA High students interested in art. Volunteers are needed to help support the classroom teacher and the Hollywood HEART teaching artist by checking in supplies, encouraging student work and participation, and helping the teachers as necessary. It will be a fun, creative, and potentially messy class, so casual attire is encouraged.
NOTE: If volunteering on Monday, LAHS has a shortened schedule — 6th period is 2:27 – 3:07 pm. Tuesday through Friday 6th period is 2:11 pm – 3:07 pm. All volunteers must contact Hollywood HEART Director of Programs Maggie Blake at maggie@hollywoodheart.org to confirm scheduling and receive background check instructions.
YALLWEST is a Young Adult Literary Festival held in Santa Monica. This year they are bringing in over 125 authors for a weekend of panels, signings, and fun. They also bring in over 800 students from Title 1 schools with their program Books, Buses, and Burgers. This allows students free transportation to the festival, lunch, and a free book of their choosing.
Volunteer hours are between 8:00 am – 7:00 pm and they run in 4-hour blocks.
Tasks:
- Panel Monitoring
- Ticket taking
- Author Signings
- School Escorts
Time Requirement: shifts are 4 hours long, there is a 1-hr training session held the week before the festival
Perks: free parking, a t-shirt, a free ticket to a Festival Ticketed event of your choosing
Sign up: https://www.yallwest.com/get-involved/#volunteers
Questions: email Volunteer Coordinator, Gretchen Schreiber, at gretchen@yallwest.com
Join Food Forward and RESULTS for a day of discussion around food justice, access, and gleaning strategies. Keynote speakers include Robert Egger (LA Kitchen) and Rachel Sumekh (Swipe Out Hunger).
RSVP by April 22! Learn more here.
Don’t miss your chance to register today for The Los Angeles Autism Speaks Walk!
Once you sign up, encourage your friends and family to join you. All are welcome! The more who fundraise, the greater the impact. Together, powered by love, the Autism Speaks Walk aims to enhance the lives of people with autism today and create a spectrum of solutions for tomorrow.
Start a Team: Register as a Team Captain, then encourage your friends and family to join your team and fundraise.
Join a Team: Choose this option to join a team that has already been created by a Team Captain.
Register as an Individual: Save your place now. You can always join a team later. If you would like to join a team, but can’t find one to join, email familyservices@autismspeaks.org and they’ll find a friendly team for you.
Please note Registration begins at 8:30 am and the Walk starts at 10 am.
Thank you for being an important part of the Autism Speaks community!
On Saturday, April 29, Mayall Academy of Arts and Technology needs a few hardworking volunteers to pitch in on various tasks (i.e. painting, clean-up and gardening) and the school’s beautification day. Mayall Academy of Arts and Technology is a Technology Magnet and low-income school located in North Hills with a large population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students and second language learners. To lend a hand, please contact Principal Linda Kim at lkim5@lausd.net.
The Great Los Angeles River CleanUp is the nation’s largest urban river CleanUp drawing over 9,000 of volunteers to fifteen sites over three weekends in April.
This Earth Month do your part – go to http://folar.org/cleanup – and sign up for Friends of the Los Angeles River’s Great LA River CleanUp!!
The group Friends of the Los Angeles River needs your help to activate the entire LA River community for the 2017 Great LA River CleanUp. There’s 51 miles of River and even with the largest urban river clean up in America, there’s always too much trash left in the River. Your help is needed to make a greater impact and cleaner River.
Lower River / April 29 / 9:00 am – 12:00 noon
Compton Creek @ Artesia Metro Station | Compton Creek @ Del Amo Metro Station
Golden Shore Marine Reserve | Willow Street Estuary
How to sign up
Registration for individual volunteers is available at folar.org/cleanup.
Group registration
Group registration is open to any group of ten or more volunteers and is available at folar.org/cleanup/groups.
Questions?
Contact FOLAR at 323-223-0585 or email contact@folar.org.
Head over to the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival to experience more than 200 original fine artists and world famous animators, whose work is found among the highest grossing animated films of all time. Free and open to the public, the festival is a great opportunity to experience the creative process, mingle with artists, and browse more than 400 shops and restaurants in Downtown Burbank.
The Creative Talent Network (CTN) will present the CTN Road Trip, with top storytellers, illustrators, character designers, and storyboard artists from the international animation community. Offering a rare opportunity to purchase artwork and interact with top animation artists, CTN will also host Sketch FEVER, where participants can sketch costumed models. There will also be a "Doodle Run” with the theme of "Project Neverland,” and a raffle for a chance to win prizes. For more about the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival, please click here.
