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.

Oil Painting: Capture the Beauty of Nature

Saturdays, (6 week sessions):
January 14 – February 18
February 25 – April 1
April 8 – May 13
May 20 – June 24
1:00pm – 3:30pm

Ron Pettie, Instructor
$69 Arboretum members / $79 non-members (includes Arboretum admission)
All materials are included.
 
Capture the beauty of nature! The instructor will guide a beginner to draw and paint with confidence. More advanced students will be able to paint independently at their own pace and will be able to choose their own subjects.
 
Each subsequent six-week class will explore other areas of painting such as landscape, still life, domestic animals, structures, deserts, and seascapes. Master artist Ron Pettie will guide you on this adventure.
 
At the end of a six-week session students will learn the following:

• Composition styles
• How to read a color chart
• Color mixing
• How to use the grid system and the rule of thirds
• Use of dark and light values and gray scales
• Learn a variety of techniques for painting , including using different brushes and the palette knife for texture and depth
• How to use the magic frame on photographs
• Self-Critiquing – Standing back and squinting
• Choosing a signature

 
Reservations REQUIRED; To register please call the Education Department at 626-821-4623.

Don’t miss the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary’s 2017 “Weed Warriors” Saturday Volunteer Days! Weeds can alter habitats and have negative effects on wildlife. Volunteers help remove periwinkle, English ivy, and English plantain using non-chemical methods.

No experience necessary; training and tools provided. Please wear clothes that can get dirty, long pants, close-toed shoes and layers for changing weather. Bring snacks and a picnic lunch, if you wish. A personal water bottle, a hat and sunscreen are strongly recommended.

Adults and children ages 8 and older are welcome. Children under 13 must be accompanied by adults. It fulfills community service requirements

Please sign up via the link: https://goo.gl/forms/hOcNhQmHFzXUHdHm2

For more info, please email jrosales@audubo.org.

Schedule
January 21; February 11 & 25; March 11 & 25; April 8, 15, & 29 (1:30pm – 4:30pm); May 13 & 20
9am – 12:30 pm each date (*except April)

Beginning and Ending Time: In January, February, March and May the time is from 9 am – 12:30 pm. In April the time is from 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm.

Fee: $30
Instructor: Dewey Tafoya

On March 24, don’t miss DIY Screen-printing with Dewey Tafoya at Self Help Graphics & Art! Attendees are required to bring two transparency copies of an original black and white image, no bigger than 8 1/2" X 11". A limited number of screens are available for purchase. Bring paper and a blank t-shirt or 2 to print your work of art on! Click HERE to secure your spot.

The Back on My Feet Annual Foothill 5K Challenge Race isn't your average 5K. Feel the burn as you climb more than 1,000 feet on course, then reward yourself with spectacular 360 degree views of the San Gabriel Mountains from the summit and some discounted brews at the Golden Road Brewing Afterparty once you finish! Registration includes chip timing, a technical race t-shirt, and finishers’ swag.

All event proceeds support Back on My Feet’s mission to increase self-sufficiency among individuals experiencing homelessness and other underserved populations.

Volunteer stations include:

• Packet stuffing – 4/27/17 – 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
• Various Race day position – 4/30/17 – 6:30 am – 12 pm

To register or for more information please inquire here: https://techimpact.formstack.com/forms/5kchallengevolunteers2017

To find out more about Back on My Feet LA and other non-event volunteering opportunities, please visit www.la.backonmyfeet.org.

Event Website: http://give.backonmyfeet.org/5kchallenge

Enjoy meeting other people while helping others? Like to cook? If so, Project Angel Food needs you to help prepare healthy meals for the sick! The organization’s devoted volunteers of all ages represent the diversity of Los Angeles. They are at the heart of all Project Angel Food does, so they pride themselves on the strong sense of community amongst volunteers and staff alike.

Kitchen volunteers join a fun-loving group of compassionate people each day to do everything from chopping, stirring, mixing, baking and packaging meals. You don't even need to know how to cook … only how to take direction from their kitchen chefs. They could use your valuable help!

Two shifts are available: Monday – Friday: 8:00 am – 12:30 pm and 1:30 – 3:30 pm. A weekend shift on Sunday is also available from 8:00 am – 12:30 pm.

Please sign up HERE or contact Project Angel Food at volunteers@angelfood.org.

NOTE: This is an ONGOING weekly volunteer opportunity!

Don’t miss the 18th Annual Bruin Run/Walk, a 5K benefiting the Chase Child Life Program at the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA! Registration starts at 6:30 am; the race starts at 8:30 am.

The Chase Child Life Program at the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA individualizes care plans to meet the developmental, social, and emotional needs of children while they are in the hospital. Whether a child comes through the Emergency Department, Perioperative suite, outpatient clinic, or spends nearly a year in the inpatient unit before going home, the Child Life department is there to identify potential sources of stress and provide supportive coping strategies to ease the child’s anxiety and cope with his/her illness or hospitalization. The Child Life Specialists are an essential part of the healthcare team to ensure that the developmental needs of every child are met.

This work cannot continue without the support of community partners. The annual Bruin Run Walk event is the organization’s largest fundraising event of the year and provides essential funding to the department. Please show your support for the 2017 Sponsor A Child families by participating!

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.

On Sunday, April 30th, you have an amazing opportunity to enjoy fine French wines and scrumptious French delicacies by Chef Keller, who is the only American chef to have been awarded simultaneous three-star Michelin ratings for two different restaurants.

Join Create Now and friends in the Garden Terrace at Bouchon, 235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, 90210 from 5:00-7:00 pm. For only $125, you'll get two glasses of wine and a variety of delicious hors d'oeuvres. Bid on phenomenal auction prizes, like a luxury Rocky Mountain train ride. Proceeds will help Create Now to improve the quality of its programs.

Free parking. Click here to buy tickets. For more information, call 213-747-2777 x 1 or email: info@createnow.org.