As we’ve been reporting for a couple of weeks now, May is the Month of Big Sundays – a whole month of terrific volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and interests. And each week in May we’re listing all the Big Sunday projects still seeking volunteers in our general area for the current week, to help you and your family find some great ways of having fun while doing good. Just click on the links below to sign up…or – if you want to do more, have a specific interest not represented here, or would like to travel a bit further – go to the full Month of Big Sundays calendar to see what else is happening in other parts of the city and/or a bit later in May – there are MANY MORE opportunities! (And yes, these projects can provide the community service hours many high school students are looking for at this time of year!)
Mid-town LA Big Sunday events for May 16-21:
Donate Items to Big Sunday’s theBIGlist
May 17, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., at the Big Sunday Office, 6111 Melrose Ave., 90038
Every week Big Sunday hears about people in the community who have things to give away – everything from dining room sets to pianos to theater tickets. At the same time, the organization’s non-profit partners call them with emergency needs – everything from beds to clothes to clerical help. So Big Sunday has happily played matchmaker for a long time with its online service theBIGlist! Each Wednesday in May Big Sunday is having an open house for folks to drop off items to be posted on theBIGlist and donated to nonprofits needing items.
Help Out at Big Sunday’s TM@10
May 18, 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m., 6111 Melrose Ave., 90038
Big Sunday launched TM@10 the summer of 2013 for just a few weeks, but the program was so popular, the staff started doing them every week! Here’s the deal: Each Thursday morning, from 10 – 11:30 a.m., they host a service project at their offices on Melrose. They’ve done everything from assembling birthday gifts for folks in shelters (so that everyone there will have something to open on their birthday) to writing letters to soldiers stationed overseas to making quilts for preemies. This week volunteers will be making birthday gifts for the Alcoholism Center for Women.
Pitch In at Melrose Elementary School’s Gardening Day
May 20, 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m, Melrose Elementary School, 731 N. Detroit St., 90046
Melrose Elementary School community members will be working on their beautiful garden for the school’s students. They need volunteers to help with clean-up and maintenance of their native garden and kinder area garden. Volunteers will help plant new plants, rake, weed, mulch and remove unwanted trash.
Pitch In at AKA’s Playground Clean Up at Rancho Cienega Recreation Center
May 20, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Rancho Cienega Recreation Center, 5001 Rodeo Road, 90016Â
Volunteers are needed to help the Mu Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. clean up the playground areas at Rancho Cienega Recreation Center. The playground clean-up will include the following: cleaning up 2 playground areas, the playground equipment, planting flowers, replacing mulch, and planting trees. They will also be cleaning the surrounding areas: tennis courts, walk ways, and open green spaces.
Help Garden and Clean at Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts’s Beautification Day
May 21, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 .m., Ramon C. Cortines School, 450 N. Grand Avenue, 90012
The Ramon C Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts is back for its sixth consecutive Big Sunday project! This time volunteers will to focus on gardening and general clean-up at their campus. Help is needed with completing construction of an outdoor classroom located in the garden, removing weeds, mulching, and planting new crops for summer. There will also be student-lead discussions, workshops, art, and film screenings focusing on student and community health and mindfulness topics throughout the day.
Take Part in Carthay Environmental Studies School’s Beautification Effort
May 21, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Carthay School of Envirnomental Studies, 6351 W. Olympic Blvd., 90048Â
Join the folks at Carthay Environmental Studies School for a huge beautification project. Volunteers are needed to help paint murals on the handball courts & the bathroom walls; clean and plant raised garden beds; prepare the front lawn and parking lot area to plant native California plants; clean and remove all trash on the campus and surrounding the school; restore benches for the outdoor classroom; and clean and paint the furniture in the Kinder play area.
Help Garden and Organize at Alexandria House
May 21, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., Alexandria House, 426 S. Alexandria Ave., 90020
Alexandria House is a transitional residence for single women and women with children in the process of moving from emergency shelter to permanent housing. It is in need of volunteers to help organize and clean the pantry, tend the garden and provide a fun event for the children who live there. Don’t miss out on this fun event!
Join the Annual Casserolerama at TIOH to Support the Homeless
May 21, 1 p.m.-3 p.m., Temple Israel of Hollywood, 7300 Hollywood Blvd., 90046
What’s Big Sunday without the Casserolerama? Make delicious home-cooked meals for homeless and battered women from The House of Ruth and their children; ailing kids and their families from Ronald McDonald House; and youth and young adults at My Friend’s Place in Hollywood. This is a Big Sunday favorite that’s been happening since 1999 in the kitchen of Temple Israel of Hollywood, where it all began.
