Local Temple and Service Organization Get Jump on Big Sunday

Each year volunteers from Leo Baeck Temple (LBT), in Westwood, partners with the families served by the South Central Los Angeles Ministry Project (LAMP) for their Big Sunday event - part of the larger volunteer event sponsored annually by BigSunday.org.

This year's Big Sunday weekend is May 14 and 15, but LBT and LAMP chose to do their project a couple weeks early because of schedule conflicts.

Sunday, LBT volunteers boarded school buses and headed to South Central Los Angeles to work with LAMP to improve a city park community center.

“Today is only partly about service,"  said Rabbi Kenneth Chasen, Senior Rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple. "Creating community can only be accomplished by encounter. Because our city is so divided, we want to build relationships by working together and getting to know each other. Together we’re building a better Los Angeles."

“The idea is that everyone has some way that they can help someone else. You don’t need to have money to give back, you just need to give your time,” said Diana Pinto, Program Director of LAMP, a service organization which provides child-care, English classes, and job training for low-income Latino immigrants in South Central Los Angeles as a pathway out of poverty.

For the past two years the two groups have collaborated on improvement projects at the LAMP facility. This year, they decided to bring their collaborative powers out in to the community by working in teams together to improve the community recreation center just a few blocksaway from LAMP.

“We are painting the child care center and cleaning the furniture, carpets and floors,” said LBT member Amy Goldreyer.

Tasks included painting a child care room, cleaning floors, furniture, rugs and toys. While volunteers worked, kids played games like checkers and tether ball.

“We’re also assembling a skee ball game for the teen program and decorating t-shirts with our hand prints. There is also face painting,”  volunteer Janet Grundfest said.

“My daughter loves to feel like she is helping someone, it’s important to her and this is something we can do as a family,” said Nancy Broderick, a member of the Leo Baeck Temple Big Sunday Team.

“Our Big Sunday event was today because our last day of religious school is on May 15th,” said Avram Mandell, Director of Education at Leo Baeck Temple.

But that doesn't mean LBT and LAMP volunteers don't work together at other times of the year.

“Big Sunday volunteers find ways to do this during a year round calendar as well as on Big Sunday weekend,” said  Pinto. "It’s really all about community building and fun."

Big Sunday is one of the largest regional community service events in the U.S. Thousands of people from Southern California, of all ages and all backgrounds, participate in Big Sunday, with close to 400 volunteer opportunities for the upcoming official event. 

“The event brought our communities together in shared experience. We worked
together in teams to beautify the rec center space then had lunch together. It was agreat day,” said Rabbi Rachel Timoner of LBT.