It's true what is said time and again: One person can and does make a difference when it comes to volunteering, whether the volunteer plays board games at a senior center, paints a school mural, or plants a tree in a park.
But when major public-facing industries and giant Tinseltown businesses come to the volunteering table, the one-person rule expands in glorious and gratitude-filled ways. That's just what happened over the second week of November, when both Tourism Cares and Universal Studios Hollywood hosted large-scale volunteer happenings, proving that good multiplied equals everyone winning.
"Hundreds of Universal Studios Hollywood volunteers" participated in six charitable projects around Southern California on Thursday, Nov. 13. The studio's annual "Day of Giving" put the focus on AIDS Project LA, the Pacific Lodge Boys' Home, the M.E.N.D.s (Meet Each Need with Dignity) Educational Training Center, Shane's Inspiration, and the LA Downtown Women's Center.
A clothing and uniform drive for kids from LAUSD via Operation School Bell was also on the The Day of Giving's altruistic outlook, a plan that is overseen by Universal's philanthropic foundation, Discover a Star.
Starting up on that same Thursday, but centered around San Pedro, Wilmington, and Catalina Island? Tourism Cares, the widespread push to keep our historic landmarks and tourist-ready attractions looking their very best. Part of the U.S.S. Iowa received a new coat of paint, and conservation projects on Catalina Island kept volunteers who ferried over in the brisk air and working in nature.
What other companies around town are ready to lend multiple hands, either via employees or outside volunteers or a winning combination of both? Many do, on a regular basis, but these two November nice-nice-nice happenings should inspire both individuals who are considering volunteering as well as organizations with many ready-to-help-out staffers.
Both NBC4 and Universal Studios are owned by Comcast.
