L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Big Sunday Join Forces for Largest Citywide Day of Service in the Nation, Up to 25,000 Volunteers Expected on Sunday, May 7

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and writer David Levinson, Founder and Chair of Big Sunday, will join up to 25,000 Angelenos for an unprecedented citywide day of service, the largest in the USA, on Sunday, May 7th, 2006 at sites throughout the City of Los Angeles and Southern California.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 5, 2006 -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and David Levinson, Founder and Chair of Big Sunday, will join up to 25,000 Angelenos for the largest citywide day of service in the USA on Sunday, May 7th, 2006 at sites throughout the City of Los Angeles and Southern California.

"We expect up to 25,000 people to volunteer this Sunday, May 7th for Big Sunday 06, L.A.s Annual Day of Service," said Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. "Whether you can give an hour, or the entire day, you can be a part of this citywide effort to beautify Los Angeles and build community pride. Cook meals for the homeless, landscape your school, paint a house, or attend a community concert -- Big Sunday has something for everyone."

David Levinson added, "What makes Big Sunday different from other grassroots volunteer projects is its unique philosophy: everyone, regardless of how rich or poor, how old or young, your race, religion, gender or ethnicity, can help someone -- everyone helps, everyone wins."

On Big Sunday 06, L.A.s Annual Day of Service, up to 25,000 volunteers, from preschoolers to seniors, coming from over 150 schools and organizations throughout Southern California, will work on over 250 community service projects in neighborhoods all over Los Angeles. Projects are designed for anyone, accommodating all age-groups and schedules, with projects lasting from one hour to the whole day.

The wide range of projects includes: landscaping and beautifying schools, hospices, and halfway houses; rehabilitating and painting homes; cooking and serving meals for the homeless; transforming corners of blight into community living rooms; painting out graffiti; creating community murals; decorating flower pots for the infirm; singing to lonely seniors; picking up trash off the street, at the beach, and along the Los Angeles River; assisting animal rescue groups; knitting clothing for premature babies; assembling packages for troops abroad; raising money for organizations through car washes, bake sales, and flea markets; taking at-risk and homeless youth and their families to special events around Los Angeles; participating in a health fair, job fair, or cultural festival; and many other projects. There will also be collection drives for books, clothes, stuffed animals, socks and underwear, among other items. Blood drives, free outdoor concerts, and a pizza party at the L.A. Zoo for all volunteers will also take place at different times throughout the day.

Big Sunday 06, L.A.s Annual Day of Service, is organized through a partnership between the Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Big Sunday.

Big Sunday was started in 1999 by Levinson, a writer by trade, as Temple Israel of Hollywoods Mitzvah Day with just 300 volunteers. Last year, Big Sunday totaled 8000 volunteers of every race, religion, socio-economic and ethnic group from all over Southern California.

Mayor Villaraigosa has sponsored nearly one dozen 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 for our Youth which brought in over 7500 volunteers from across Los Angeles.

In late 2005, the leaders of Big Sunday and the Office of Mayor Villaraigosa agreed to join forces to organize the largest day of service in the nation. By joining forces, the Office of Mayor Villaraigosa and Big Sunday expect up to 25,000 volunteers on May 7th, 2006.

"Beautifying the community and building community pride have always been the goal of our community days of service," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "Big Sunday 06, L.A.s Annual Day of Service will show us what we can accomplish if we all work together towards these common goals."

Sponsors include: Toyota Motor Corporation, Temple Israel of Hollywood, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures, NBC Universal, Latham and Watkins LLP, and Playa Vista Corporation.

To register and to view a list of projects by area, the public and media can go to www.bigsunday.org .

Preparation work for many of the projects that will take place on Big Sunday will begin this week.

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