Global Volunteerism: Brazilian Delegates Visit L.A. Works

Brazilian Delegates and L.A. Works Staff

On Thursday May 9^th, L.A. Works had the pleasure of meeting with three delegates from Brazil through the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA). IVCLA is a non-profit organization that implements the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of professional and cultural exchanges. The delegates embarked on this trip to acquire a better understanding of NGO management and civic activism in the U.S. They were accompanied by a translator who also learned new nonprofit sector jargon related to volunteerism despite having an advanced level of Portuguese. We discovered that “Volunteer Supply Chain” was not a common phrase used in Brazilians’ vocabulary.

We began the conversation by sharing our history in Los Angeles, the impact we make on the community through the various programs we offer, and best practices in volunteer management and engagement. While volunteerism is widely practiced throughout the U.S., it is not as common internationally. Our guests were certainly intrigued by the volunteer engagement methods we implement allowing us to run an effective and efficient organization that engages 25,000 volunteers per year. The strongest points of the conversation revolved around best practices on volunteer management, recruitment, matching and training, supervision, recognition and evaluation that L.A. Works implements in order to build organizational capacity through our volunteer base. Efficiency and sustainability of volunteer integration, after all, increase the impact that L.A. Works creates in Los Angeles County. We have been able to effectively translate that into other nonprofits’ models to continue cultivating a community of even greater impact.

Each Brazilian Delegate had the opportunity to share details on the work they do, how they currently engage volunteers, and the challenges they have faced with volunteerism in their country. The biggest barrier they encounter, is that many of them are the only advocates within their organizations that promote volunteer integration as a way to maximize the impact of their work. L.A. Works offered some strategies to help shift the perceptions of their staff and give them insight into the power of volunteerism.

Despite the language and cultural barriers, we agreed on the power of volunteer service and shared a mutual appreciation for the various volunteer projects and initiatives happening around the globe. With one another’s support, L.A. Works and the Brazilian Delegates hope to collaborate on future endeavors to demonstrate how people around the world share a passion for bettering our communities no matter where they live and what language they speak.

DIRECTV and L.A. Works Cross State Lines

We are excited to introduce our community to one of our newest partners: DIRECTV. For nearly a year now, L.A. Works has collaborated with DIRECTV to create custom days of community service for their employees. The projects we organize revolve around DIRECTV’s main area of philanthropic focus, K-12 education. “L.A. Works has been great at connecting us with appropriate nonprofit partners that have made our giving meaningful,” shared Brooke Hanson, Lead Corporate Citizen Specialist at DIRECTV.

Just days after MLK Day this year we organized a day of service for DIRECTV’s international and national leadership team in which they revitalized the grounds of Westside Global Awareness Magnet. “L.A. Works is great to work with because it has a great understanding of the volunteer landscape,” Hanson said.

During Earth Day, we collaborated in another venture with DIRECTV, their annual conference for DIRECTV Dealers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Approximately 800 employees, dealers and partners participated in community service projects across five different nonprofit partner sites. DIRECTV flew in our Director of Operations and artist team to organize and lead the revitalization efforts at one of the sites, Arturo Cambeiro Elementary School. Projects consisted of creating an outdoor classroom, making planter boxes with native drought resistant desert plants, and reorganizing the library. Volunteers also painted murals and the basketball court and built nifty mobile storage boxes to facilitate the transportation of gym equipment during P.E.

Custom days of service like these transform communities and cultivate leadership. Hanson stated that many volunteers expressed interest in wanting to reach out to similar local nonprofits upon returning to their hometown after the conference. Above all, revitalization efforts provide great benefit to the community as research shows that children learn better in an environment that they can feel proud of and comfortable in. We are excited to have forged this partnership with a corporation so committed to supporting their community.

Follow DIRECTV’s lead and find out how we can help you make an impact in the community! Learn more here.

 

 

CommunityWorks Success: We Served and Learned!

Saturday, April 20th was a day filled with service and learning as we successfully launched our first CommunityWorks (CW) event at Franklin Canyon Park in celebration of Earth Day. During the service project, 50 volunteers shoveled debris and did basic landscaping work such as trimming branches that were hanging over a hiking trail. Volunteers worked hard to beautify a historic road that winds around Franklin Canyon.

After putting in some muscle, volunteers were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the park with some snacks and a compelling talk from Judy Rachel, president of the Eco-Home Network. Judy discussed the development of the Eco-Home built in the 1970s in Los Feliz as a museum for the public and provided practical and easy tips for how we can be more eco-friendly. From water-saving shower heads and homemade cleaning products to e-waste collection sites and unplugging unused power chords, it was clear that every single person can play a part, big or small, in creating a more sustainable and healthy planet.

Thanks to our terrific intern Peter Klingman for organizing this event, all the volunteers who participated, and to Judy Rachel for an informative learning session. We are excited to bring our next CW event this summer! Stay-tuned for more information by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

The CommunityWorks Program aims to Serve. Educate. Connect through a combination of service and education offering a platform for volunteers to learn about issues, learn from one another and feel empowered to be change makers in their own community. Every quarter we’ll be offering a new unique CommunityWorks event/activity around a chosen service theme.

 

Serving Those Who Serve Our Country

During the month of April, L.A. Works organized a day of service for Northrop Grumman volunteers at the Bob Hope Hollywood United Service Organization (USO) at LAX. The center is open 24/7 and serves as a welcoming space for military travelers and their families. The USO features a snack bar, TV lounge, film library, family room, nap room and an outdoor patio among other accommodations.

Barbara Musella, USO Center Manager, and L.A. Works’ muralists worked together to create a vision for various rooms within the USO. Fortunately, the facility remained open during revitalization and beautification efforts. “We had to shift guests around and accommodate accordingly but everything was done in an organized fashion,” Musella shared. Northrop Grumman is a huge supporter of the USO and they wanted to show their appreciation for troops by painting the center and enhancing it, making it feel more lively, welcoming and comforting.  “It was a feel good moment to see Northrop volunteers thanking the troops for their service and vice versa,” said Maggie Lippon, Project Manager at Northrop Grumman.

The USO has served over 120,000 guests within the last two years and has been named a treasure of LA by the Central City Association of Los Angeles.

Follow Northrop Grumman’s lead and find out how we can help you make an impact in the community! Learn more here.

I came to Los Angeles to be the change

A few years ago, when MLK Day was officially named a National Day of Service in the United States, Kaiser Permanente urged employees to use the day to volunteer in their communities. The company not only permitted its employees to go out and be of service; it often sponsored many of the events in the communities where its facilities are located.  It’s a comfort knowing that I work for a company that not only cares about the individual’s wellness, but also one that knows the importance of the impact individuals have on the community. For the past three years, I have signed up to volunteer on MLK Day. Last year was the first year I worked with L.A. Works- a non-profit volunteer organization that has been a trusted partner to Kaiser Permanente for several years, offering volunteer leadership services to its employees for big service events.

Kaiser Permanente runs its own internal employee volunteer site called KPCares. This site is a place where employees, as well as organizations that reach out to Kaiser and meet certain criteria, can post events in which volunteers are needed.  These events can be local, regional, national or international, and can be seen by employees based on these preferences. Coming from Northern California a short time ago, a place where I did a lot of community service, it was frustrating to learn that the region-wide effort to get the volunteer site off the ground in Southern California was only a couple of years old and still in its infant stages.

Last year when I was looking for a place to donate my time, I was having trouble finding an event. So I started scouring the Internet and that is when I found the L.A. Works Web site. This year, I noticed they listed a big MLK Day 2013 event in which they would revitalize a school in Glendale and were in need of many volunteers. I also observed that project leader positions still needed to be filled, so I signed up for one, and within a couple of days I received an email from L.A. Works notifying me that there would be a project leader training for the event. L.A. Works makes it easy to find and sign up for events, and in addition they usually offer training for all the requested positions.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make the training, but I showed up for my shift at the school bright and early at about 6:30 am on MLK Day. Having done quite a bit of volunteer work in the past, I was a little skeptical that things would run smoothly. One of the biggest problems with the large service day events where I have volunteered in the past has been disorganization. Often organizations are taxed because of the large amount of volunteers that show up and then are left scrambling to provide work, find tools or be able to actively manage the sheer amount of people without running into a multitude of problems. A lot of this has to do with funding, so let me note how important donations are to an organization. They cannot run on sheer manpower alone. There are so many moving parts that make every event possible, from having enough pencils to making sure there is water and people are taking breaks.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that L.A. Works really had their act together. I tracked down the project leader manager, Becca Bloom, who greeted me with a smile and let me know that breakfast and coffee were being provided. After I made a cup of Joe, I tracked her down again. It takes a lot to coordinate the fine dance that is a big volunteer event, and you will never find the head person standing in one place for more than a moment. Once I located her again, she told me my duty. While I was waiting for all the volunteers to show up I lent a hand doing anything I could– this included setting up tables, hanging banners and basically just going wherever I could lend a hand. The thing I like least about volunteering is not making the most of every moment that I am there.  I am sure most people have the same sentiment.

While I worked, it was great to network and meet people from all the great organizations that partner with L.A. Works. I have to say, I especially enjoy when I see the red shirt with the big white target sign. I will vouch for Kaiser Permanente volunteers. I have never worked with such passionate and dedicated people as the employees that sign
up from Kaiser Permanente to volunteer, but man, Target volunteers not only come ready to work, they come in droves. I swear the last two MLK Days I have volunteered with L.A. Works, there have been several hundred Target volunteers and man they know how to put in an honest day’s work. A great thing about L.A. Works is that it provides opportunities, and helps relieve corporations of the stress of coordinating such events by doing all the work for them. These big companies give amazing amounts of donations back to the community in the form of employee volunteer hours.

Like clockwork, people started to show up in droves. Families, individuals and people of all ethnic backgrounds lined up and patiently waited their turns to register. The beauty of volunteerism is that it knows no color lines. The people who show up just come with a heart of love and the willingness to donate their time to make someone else’s life easier.

I was assigned to be a line monitor and put in charge of making sure each individual had a liability form filled out. I believe that day over 500 volunteers showed up to help out. It took a good hour to get everyone checked in, and the only complication during that time was that we ran out of liability forms, but the school principal ran in and printed out a few more, and we were back in business. The coordination effort by L.A. Works and its partners to get everyone accounted for was seamless. I was really impressed.

While waiting for everyone to check in, people stood around and sipped hot coffee and ate fruit and bagels. When the line depleted, everyone gathered around the deejay for duty assignments and general announcements. When those were completed, the deejay fired up the music and everyone went to work.

What a sight it is to see a total transformation of an entire school grounds. Groups were landscaping, painting, sorting out old school books, and doing so many other things. Rarely did I see anyone standing around unless they were looking for something else to do or taking a break. The beautiful thing about the whole day was that it was about 80 degrees in the middle of January. It couldn’t have been a more amazing day. I am sure L.A. Works didn’t have anything to do with the weather, which is one of my favorite things about Los Angeles, but you never know.

For most of the day I worked hauling bark to provide as ground cover for the newly landscaped areas around campus. It was warm, and pushing a wheelbarrow up a hill and across the old campus was a chore, but as with any volunteer events, temporary hard labor is always worth the reward of seeing the finished product. I stayed with a group from a local dojo (Name here) until the very end. That is another awesome benefit of volunteer events: You meet so many like-minded, giving and passionate individuals.

The success of MLK Day convinced me to research L.A. Works a little more and find other, more long-term opportunities with them. I was sold on how smoothly this big event ran and wanted to look into how I could become a piece of the puzzle in the bigger picture that is L.A. Works. Over the last few months, I have joined the organization and I am currently in the process of helping them with marketing, social media, and finding donors for door prizes for the L.A. Works Service Crawl event on July 20^th, 2013. I hope to someday start my own non-profit and if and when I do, I hope to model it after the blueprint that L.A. Works has set forth on how an organization like this can run efficiently, solely off the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of volunteers who show up every year to make Los Angeles a better place to live.

Thank you L.A. Works for all the time and effort you put into making Los Angeles one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Thank you also for the opportunity to fit into your little family and do the one thing that I love more than anything, volunteering.

This post was written by L.A. Works’ Volunteer Project Leader, Antonio Fernandez. Visit Antonio’s blog to read more about his take on volunteering, art, poetry and life in general! 

Partnership with United Way to Expand Corporate and Community Volunteerism throughout Southern California

L.A. Works is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, volunteer action center that creates and implements hands-on community service projects throughout the greater Los Angeles area.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 19, 2013

L.A. Works, Los Angeles’ premier volunteer center for community and corporate service, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA), today announced a partnership to expand and promote corporate volunteerism throughout Los Angeles County.

Under the new initiative, L.A. Works will leverage its extensive experience in creating large-scale corporate and community volunteer events to develop customized service opportunities for United Way volunteers. Additionally, L.A. Works will work closely with UWGLA to craft a strategic plan to mobilize and activate volunteers, deepen the volunteer experience, implement a system to recruit, manage and track volunteers as well as to train future leaders in volunteer engagement.

“Both L.A. Works and United way of Greater Los Angeles have long standing histories of strengthening local communities in Los Angeles,” said Bob L. Johnson, co-founder of L.A. Works. “We believe our collaboration with United Way will help us meet the needs of the many nonprofits who work day-in and day-out in these communities. It’s a win for the families who live in these communities as well as the entire Los Angeles community.”

“United Way of Greater Los Angeles is excited to partner with L.A. Works as we expand volunteer opportunities for our donors and corporate partners to make a greater impact in our community,” said Elise Buik, CEO and President, United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “Our donors and companies have shown tremendous interest in being able to give back to the community through hands-on activities and getting to know and help our neighbors in need. We look forward to working with L.A. Works and their vast resources and expertise to better serve our constituents and the people of L.A. County.”

In the coming weeks, one of the first volunteer projects that L.A. Works will coordinate for UWGLA is its NFL Hometown Huddle at Daniel Webster Middle School with United Way Ambassador Nnamdi Asomugha, who has made the NFL’s All-Pro team four times as a cornerback. During the event, volunteers will revitalize the school’s outdoor recreation area, which includes painting a large world and U.S. map, landscaping and painting benches and tables.

Asomugha is Chairman of the Asomugha Foundation. He is a native of Southern California and graduated from Nathaniel A. Narbonne High School in Harbor City.

Throughout the year, NFL players and employees participate in various community service projects across the nation. NFL Hometown Huddle not only revitalizes the community through these service projects, but also brings awareness regarding the health and fitness issues impacting youth.

L.A. Works is a leader in the national service movement. Since 1991 L.A. Works has mobilized Southern California’s corporate and community volunteer power by providing more than one million hours of service to diverse communities throughout Los Angeles County. L.A. Works provides critical infrastructure to hundreds of financially challenged nonprofits by providing resources and a trained volunteer leadership force. Each year, it coordinates thousands of Angelenos in monthly service projects, addressing issues such as: at-risk youth, education, hunger and homelessness, domestic violence, literacy, HIV/AIDS, assisting the elderly, environmental sustainability and animal welfare.

About L.A. Works
L.A. Works is a nonprofit volunteer action center that provides thousands of Angelenos with an opportunity to address pressing social issues through volunteer service. LA Works mobilizes volunteers; provides resources to nonprofits; and makes volunteering easy and accessible by: (1) coordinating meaningful volunteer opportunities for individuals and corporations with area nonprofits; (2) assisting nonprofits with recruiting, managing, and maintaining a volunteer labor force; and (3) educating Angelenos about the broader social and public policy issues affecting Los Angeles, and creating opportunities for civic engagement. For more information, visit: http://www.laworks.com

About United Way of Greater Los Angeles
United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways out of poverty by helping homeless people move into housing, providing students with the support they need to graduate high school prepared for college and the workforce, and helping hard-working families become financially stable. United Way identifies the root causes of poverty and works strategically to solve them by building alliances across all sectors, funding targeted programs and advocating for change. For more information, visit http://www.unitedwayla.org.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10545707.htm

Creating a Successful Partnership

With the support of L.A. Works, the Jonathan Club has partnered with Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown for the past several years. Their passion for making a long lasting difference in their local community has been key to their successful relationship with Castelar. “It has allowed us to create lasting impact and literally see the progress of our work,” said Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Matthew Allnatt.

This February, members of the Jonathan Club created a waiting area and built benches so that parents and grandparents can comfortably sit while their children are let out of school. They also repainted the main school gate with bright red paint, did some landscaping and fed over 400 people including volunteers and school children.

Castelar’s Principal, Cheuk Choi, is humbled to be part of such a partnership and says the rest of the school’s community feels the same. “The project took place on a weekend and when staff, parents and children came to school the following Monday they were very excited and wanted to know all about who had transformed their environment,” said Choi. The relationship with the Jonathan Club has helped Castelar stay positive and focus on creating a better learning environment for students. “Having a partnership with the Jonathan Club has given us a lot of encouragement. It’s good to know that people outside of the immediate community want to help,” said Choi.

Among other initiatives, Choi is deeply committed to expanding the music program at Castelar because he believes that different students learn with different modalities. “Learning music is hands-on and helps students that aren’t necessarily academically focused learn a different set of skills that they can then transfer into the academic sector,” he shared. The Club is excited about the future of Castelar’s music program and hopes to play a role in its expansion. Choi and Allnatt have started conversations about having Castelar’s students perform at the Club’s annual member meeting.