MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA, BIG SUNDAY, AND SHAREFEST MOBILIZE 50,000 VOLUNTEERS IN ONE WEEKEND

The Mayor’s office, Big Sunday, and ShareFest collaborate for the first time on a Day of Service to build a strong community foundation in the Harbor Area

LOS ANGELES-- Mayor Villaraigosa, joined by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Big Sunday Founder David Levinson, ShareFest Managing Director Chad Mayer and thousands of volunteers united for the Harbor Area Day of Service beginning at 8:00 AM, Saturday, May 2, 2009.

This was the first time that ShareFest, and Big Sunday collaborated together for the Mayor’s Day of Service. More than 5,000 volunteers just from the Harbor Area - Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, and Wilmington- participated in more than 100 service projects geared toward giving back to the community. From serving food to seniors, to cleaning up debris in the Dominguez Channel, the Harbor Day of Service featured projects for all ages and abilities as a part of ShareFest’s “work day” and Big Sunday’s weekend-long, volunteer event all across Southern California that mobilized tens of thousands of volunteers.

“The spirit of service and active engagement is what builds communities in Los Angeles. Now more than ever, we need to be helping our neighbors and make others proud of where we live,” Mayor Villaraigosa said.

Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilwoman Hahn, David Levinson and Chad Meyer kicked off the day by visiting of the Boys & Girls Club, also known as the Cheryl Green Youth Center, in Harbor Gateway. Spurred by the tragic deaths of local youth such as Cheryl Green who were caught in the crossfire of gang violence, the Harbor community has made this vision of a refuge for at-risk youth into a reality through generous donations and countless volunteer hours. On Saturday, over 100 volunteers helped hook up the electricity, install a handicap ramp, install dry wall and paint the exterior to prepare for the center’s opening.

Following the opening ceremony, Mayor Villaraigosa embarked on several service projects spanning the Harbor area to serve breakfast to seniors, clean up the Dominguez Channel, hand out groceries and plant trees.

“Whether it is painting a mural, planting a tree or serving food to seniors, Day of Service is about people coming together and helping their neighbors to strengthen the foundation of their community. We come together from all different backgrounds and from all across Los Angeles to go one step further than community service - we are here to build a community where neighbors help their neighbors when in need. I look forward to building off our success this year and mobilizing even more volunteers next year,” Mayor Villaraigosa said.

The Day of Service culminated with a closing ceremony where the Mayor recognized volunteers and sponsors for the time and hard work they contributed to make the event a success. To cap of the festivities, there were a series of dance performances from Tahitian, Flamenco and Mexican folk dancers.

Mayor Villaraigosa has organized 20 highly successful and very popular local and citywide community days of service - first as Councilmember of the 14th Council District and then as Mayor. On October 8, 2005, Mayor Villaraigosa organized the first City-wide Day of Service, which brought in over 7,500 volunteers from across Los Angeles.

Last year, the partnership between Big Sunday and the Mayor’s Day of Service resulted in more than 32,000 volunteers of every race, religion, ethnicity, socio-economic group and from hundreds of congregations, schools, offices, clubs, and other groups coming together to volunteer neighborhoods all over the greater Los Angeles area. Big Sunday was founded in Los Angeles 11 years ago by David Levinson, a Hollywood-based full-time writer, with just 300 volunteers. Big Sunday now stretches from Santa Barbara to San Diego counties, to the Inland Empire, and engaged over 50,000 volunteers over one weekend in 2008, its 10th anniversary year.

This is the first time Big Sunday, a regional volunteer powerhouse, and ShareFest, a South Bay community organization, have collaborated together for the Mayor’s Day of Service. ShareFest began as a simple idea to cultivate youth to be local leaders in their community. Last year, ShareFest mobilized 3,500 volunteers and completed 140 projects throughout the South Bay.

Mayor Villaraigosa participated in the following events and projects on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009:

8:30 AM

Boys and Girls Club

Cheryl Green Youth Center

Corner of Del Amo and Denker Ave.

Harbor Gateway, CA 90501

To prepare for the opening of the Boys and Girls, also known as the Cheryl Green Youth Center, volunteers hooked up electricity, painted the exterior, and re-tiled the floor. The Center’s mission is to be a refuge in the community for at-risk youth.

9:15 AM

Harbor Towers

340 S. Mesa St.

San Pedro, CA 90731

Mayor Villaraigosa served breakfast to an entire retirement home. Community leaders and volunteers from local high schools also helped serve and prepare the food to the 180 seniors living at Harbor Towers.

10:00 AM

Wilmington Boat Owners Association

Berth 202

Wilmington, CA 90744

Volunteers cleaned up garbage and debris in the Dominguez Channel. This clean up effort is completed by volunteers four times a year to supplement efforts by refuse collection boats that often miss the debris and garbage that gets stuck between the rocks.

10:45 AM

Harbor Village

981 Harbor Village Dr.

Harbor City, CA 90710

Balqon, a local electric truck manufacturer, hosted a job fair for its electric truck factory and volunteers distributed groceries to local residents.

11:30 AM

Wilmington Industrial Park

430 Lecouvreur Ave.

Wilmington CA 90744

Volunteers planted trees in honor of George De La Torre Jr, Wilmington philanthropist and founder and CEO of Juanita’s Foods, the largest manufacturer of canned menudo. The Mayor also presented a plaque to George De La Torre’s family and planted a tree in his memory along with his grandchildren, David Levinson, and Chad Mayer.

12:15 PM

Banning Park Closing Ceremony

1331 Eubank Ave.

Wilmington, CA 90744

Mayor Villaraigosa honored volunteers and sponsors for their hard work. Entertainment and a free lunch were provided.

PRINCIPAL SPONSORS

Board of Public Works

Community Development Department

Department of Recreation and Parks

Department of Water and Power

Million Trees Los Angeles

Los Angeles Conservation Corps

Wilmington Neighborhood Council

Harbor Gateway South Neighborhood Council

The Home Depot

Jarritos

Northgate Markets

Reliable Energy

Avalon-Carver Community Center

Fiesta de Carnival Promotions

Eric Eisenberg

Gary Dwight

Tom Dorsey

Herb Zimmer

Omelet and Waffle Shop

Balqon Corporation

Hollywood Dolls Beauty Salon

Studio 347

San Pedro Sports Walk

Bernice Yau