Tag Archive for: Volunteer

Echo Park is a great community, but we aren’t immune from real estate troubles – foreclosures happen all the time, affecting our neighbors and our neighborhood. The Eastsider LA breaks down the numbers for the area, Echo Park/Silver Lake, citing 120 foreclosed homes in August alone. Which is why the Montebello Housing Development Corporation and Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo have coordinated to put on another foreclosure event, the Northeast LA Home Rescue Fair, to help educate those at risk of foreclosure.

The rescue fair takes place all day tomorrow (Saturday, September 17, 2011), and will help those at risk for foreclosure get FREE advice so that they can make an informed decision. In addition to bilingual services and informational workshops, the fair will offer one-on-one sessions with loan specialists, HUD-approved housing counselors, and attorneys. You MUST register for the event, so take advantage now by calling 323-722-3955.

Click here for the flyer to learn more about the fair, including a list of what documents you need to bring along with you for the best assistance (eg. loan information, tax returns, bank statements, etc.

Since the Echo Park Improvement Association is co-sponsoring the event, I’ll be volunteering my help throughout the afternoon. If you’re interested in helping out, let me know!

Northeast LA Home Rescue Fair
Saturday, September 17, 2011
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Goodwill Industries, 342 N San Fernando Rd.

On Saturday, March 26, LA Works is partnering up with the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council to accomplish a unique community service project in honor of Cesar Chavez’s March 31 birthday.

Expert muralists, volunteers and civic leaders will oversee volunteers and LAUSD students in the creation of five to ten community justice and human rights-themed murals. The murals will be donated to schools and libraries around Los Angeles.

Andres Chavez, grandson of Cesar Chavez, will be a guest speaker at the event. He was “raised in the tradition of the farm worker movement that his grandfather, César Chávez, founded. He has participated in United Farm Workers’ marches, rallies, picket lines, union conventions, and political campaigns, including those for immigration reform.”

Former State Senator Richard Polanco (who helped make March 31, Chavez’s birthday, a state holiday in 2000) will also be a guest speaker.

The program begins at 9:00 am on Saturday, March 26 at Echo Park Lake. Full details and directions are provided to you after you register. You can register to volunteer by visiting the LA Works website.

This year marks the 12th annual Gobble Gobble Give – what started out as a couple of Echo Park residents cooking Thanksgiving meals for a few homeless in the neighborhood has turned into a huge community effort where 2,000 people in need are fed, clothed, and just helped out in general.

The organizers need your donations of money, food, clothing, water, shoes, blankets, soap, toothbrush kits, or whatever you can offer to help. Sign up to volunteer on their website (and do it soon!).

Gobble Gobble Give
Thursday, November 25 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
The Echo, 1822 West Sunset Blvd.

Ana Calderon will be DJ’ing. With special thanks to American Apparel, At The Echo, and everyone involved.

It’s almost time to vote this year, as we know with the all-important gubernatorial elections on November 2. El Centro Del Pueblo here in Echo Park is helping people get registered to vote by holding a voter registration event specifically for Latino voters on Saturday, October 2 at 9:00 am.

If you’re interested in helping out, Barragan’s is providing your free lunch! The drive is located at 1157 Lemoyne Street. Make sure you are registered to vote!

Leran more and RSVP by visiting the El Centro event Facebook page.

There are a lot of events for kids and adults coming up at the library. Did you know the library offers computer classes as well as classes for online job hunting and resume writing? There is even a web design class. Bring your kids around on March 2nd for Dr. Seuss day or to one of the library’s numerous art classes!

Adult

  • Mar 03 – Crochet & Knitting Class
    5:00 PM
    A crocheting and knitting class for all adults – beginners always welcome! For information call, 213-250-7808.
  • Mar 06 – Life Story Writing
    10:30 AM
    Learn how to turn your memories into vivid writing for inner exploration, to share with friends and family or to prepare for publication. No writing experience necessary.
  • Mar 16 – Music and Munchies
    6:30 PM
    Step outside your busy schedule and into an evening of lovely, live music with the UCLA GLUCK STRING QUARTET. Refreshments provided.
  • Mar 20 – Life Story Writing
    10:30 AM
    Learn how to turn your memories into vivid writing for inner exploration, to share with friends and family or to prepare for publication. No writing experience necessary.
  • Mar 24 – Community Health Plans – Learn Your Options
    6:30 PM
    The State of California provides free and low-cost health plans for families who can’t afford health insurance. Representatives from these services will be here to explain the different programs and how to access them. Get your questions answered.
  • Apr 21 – Crochet & Knitting Class
    5:00 PM
    A crocheting and knitting class for all adults – beginners always welcome! For information call, 213-250-7808.

Read more

head

It started with one person, Echo Park resident Barry Walker, who cooked and delivered Turkey Day meals to the homeless in his neighborhood… and now a group of friends in Echo Park have shown up to help cook and deliver meals for the past 10 years – the first year, 28 homeless were fed! The next year more showed up and over fifty meals went out. The following year, we reached the 100 mark and last year we were able to feed over 1,500 homeless in our neighborhood and leave them with t-shirts, beanies, shoes, sweaters, and tooth brush kits. Gobble Gobble Give is a community event and has become an incredible example of what a community can do to make change.

Gobble Gobble Give is looking for volunteers on every level who can give food, money, or clothing and those who can donate their time this upcoming Thanksgiving day (Nov 26th) by cooking, warming, packaging and delivering food to the homeless in Echo Park and Downtown LA. Every little bit helps
those in need, so show some love and give a friend a reason to be thankful.

Click here to donate money to Gobble Gobble Give for supplies and food.

Click here to donate your time on Thanksgiving Day.

GGG is also taking DONATIONS IN ADVANCE of clothing (specifically, gently used sweaters, jackets, shirts, socks, and hats for men, women, children), blankets, and supplies for toiletry kits toothbrush/toothpaste, soap and shampoo. All clothing, supplies and toiletries can dropped off in advance this Saturday, Nov 21st and Sunday, Nov. 22nd from 1-4 PM at Raven Spa (2910 Rowena Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90039-2042 / ph: 323-644-0240).

Here’s the rundown on how THANKSGIVING DAY will work:
Everyone arrives at 10 a.m. SHARP Thanksgiving morning at The Echo night club in Echo Park. The address is 1822 Sunset Bl. 90026.

Everyone is asked to bring the following:
1. A DISH. “ALREADY HEATED” This is a potluck event. It can be as little as a side of vegetables or it can be three large bowls of your grandma’s famous “cranberry walnut stuffing”. We can always use Turkeys and main course items. Side dishes are great as well. Veggies, Veggies, Veggies. Mashed potatoes, yams, vegetables, greens, etc. Of course desserts are always awesome. If you are bringing a main dish like an entire turkey or ham etc. please email us at turkeycrew@gobblegobblegive.org and let us know so we can tabulate what we need as we get closer to the big day.

2. FIVE (5) SMALL TOILETRY KITS. that include a: toothbrush/toothpaste, soap and shampoo. You can get these items very inexpensively at $0.99 stores.

3. CLOTHING AND BLANKETS. Please bring any used blankets and/or gently used sweaters, jackets, shirts, socks, shoes, beanies/hats for men, women,
children.

At 10:15 we begin a large “conveyor Belt” of food and with the help of everyone we put the meals together. We box them up together with care packages of tooth brushes, soap, clothes, etc..

At around 11: 00 a.m. the first vehicles begin to roll out. For those of you who have a car and want to drive you will be known as drivers. We will put a few people in your car with you and you will go out in two or three car teams. We hit the riverbeds, the alleys, the freeway overpasses. sometimes we discover small villages of people in dirt fields and empty lots. The vehicles return after delivering all the meals. We are always done by 1:00 p.m..

From GEPENC:

Volunteers Needed for GEPENC Community Center Clean-Up

Saturday, November 21

12:00 noon – 6:00 pm

New Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council offices and community center

1160 Echo Park Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90026

Behind the Bank of America (formerly the LAPD Drop In Center)

DETAILS – Approx 4,000 sq ft of space to clean including (3) meeting areas, 1 – bathroom, storage area, office “bull pen” and outdoor patio. Items need to be carried into A dumpster placed directly in front on Echo Park Avenue. Once cleared, the walls need to be washed and prepped for future painting. There is a large conference room carpet that needs to be removed along with bulky items like sofas, refrigerator, desks and old bank items that are no longer used.

ITEMS NEEDED – Cleaning supplies, rags, paper towels, brooms, trash bags, shovels, gloves, water hoses, scrub brushes, buckets and anything else you can think that would help clean.

For information please contact Lisa Baca, CIO GEPENC bacasigala@earthlink.net

323 660-7234