Walk the Talk: Service Project on Sunday, August 30th

Atwater Village resident Cole M. walks and rolls in last year's Shane's Inspiration 10k

Please join us for the
Shane’s Inspiration 10k Walk n’ Roll in Griffith Park
Sunday August 30th 7:45a – 12n
Shane’s Inspiration Playground
4800 Crystal Springs Drive
Follow the signs to the Merry-Go-Round and park in Lot #3.
*** Meet fellow HVC’ers at the main registration desk at 7:45am ***

It’s time to walk our talk — literally — with our August service project. The HVC will be walking and rolling (on foot, in wheelchairs, walkers, strollers) to help raise money for the important mission of Shane’s Inspiration. This is a very family-friendly event, so please bring the kids!!

Shane’s Inspiration builds universally accessible playgrounds so that kids with disabilities can play side-by-side with typically-abled kids. Their mission is to create playgrounds and educational programs that integrate children of all abilities socially, physically and emotionally, fostering acceptance, friendship and understanding. If any kids you know have ever played on their playgrounds, you’ll know it’s a mission worth supporting!


It’s easy to participate:

1. Fill out the FREE online registration form and be sure to put down that your team is HYPERION VOLUNTEER CORPS. Here’s the link: http://shanesinspiration.org/content/view/60/1/

2. Collect sponsorships 2 easy ways:

• use the attached form and bring it with you the morning of the walk n’roll WITH THE PLEDGED MONEY (checks payable to Shane’s Inspiration)
• OR, get secure online pledges & payment by signing up at www.giftberry.org/hyperionvolunteercorps
  

3. Read the attached Team Member info for what to bring, wear, etc.

• For more information: http://shanesinspiration.org/content/view/32/1/
  

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to e-mail or call me.
I’ll have my cell phone on me the day of the event in case you can’t find us.

Looking forward to seeing you there and thanks for all you do!

Keep shining a light,

Judy Korin
Hyperion Volunteer Corps Project Leader
hyperionvolunteers (at) gmail (dot) com

HVC Outreach Event a Success!

To see the rest of the photos from this great event please click here.

From our Project Leader, Karla,

The Atwater Village "Summer Nights on the Blvd." event went extremely well. It was a beautiful community building event. There are two more nights like this planned by our Chamber of Commerce, for the third Thursday of August and September. Maybe we will have a booth on those nights as well (to be discussed at our next meeting). Susie, Tara, Melissa and I setup a booth with information about the Hyperion Volunteer Corps. It was our first very public venue, where we attempted to gain new membership and increase awareness for our mission and involvement in our future service events. Thanks to Judy, who wasn't able to attend, but somehow was miraculously able to get posters, T-shirts, water bottle labels, and one-sheet flyers all printed with our new logo that she created. Thanks so much Judy!

We not only focused on promoting our HVC, we received 33 new interested names of individuals who are interested in becoming a part of the HVC. Welcome! We also handed out information concerning Obama's Healthcare Reform Plan. We collected 44 signatures of support. I have written to Senator Diane Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer and Congressman Adam Schiff, to encourage them to support Obama and vote for his three point plan. Reduce rising healthcare costs, allow all patients a choice in their own coverage and their own doctor, and quality care for all, by the end of this year. We desperately need quality healthcare for all Americans!

Regardless, of our small numbers, the Hyperion Volunteer Corps mission and passion for change is mighty and ever growing. Thanks to all of you and our families who encourage and inspire us to be the change that we seek.

If not now, when?
If not me, then who?

Sincerely,
Karla Crespi-Funderburk

UPCOMING HVC EVENTS: GET INVOLVED!

UPCOMING SERVICE EVENTS

Please put these on your calendar — we hope you can join us!

Sunday August 30th 8am-noon
Shane’s Inspiration Walk & Roll 5k/10k in Griffith Park
HVC will have a team walking, running, rolling in this great event too raise funds for Shane’s Inspiration, an amazing local non-profit that builds universally accessible playgrounds so disabled kids can play side-by-side with typically-abled kids. Their mission is to foster understanding, friendship and compassion through play and educational programs. It promises to be a great event.
Family Friendly!!!


Saturday September 19th 8:45am-noon
LA Regional Food Bank
Packing food for distribution. Plan on sweating and working hard for a great cause. If you've never done this kind of volunteer work before, you're in for an eye-opener and a very fulfilling experience.
Anyone over age 14 is welcome

UPCOMING PLANNING BREAKFASTS

We meet the second Saturday of every month from 8-9am to plan our service and action projects. Please join us at Homegirl Cafe, 130 W Bruno St (near Chinatown) for a delightful breakfast at an amazing place to plan how we can continue to be the change. Next planning breakfasts:

Saturday, August 8, 8-9am

Saturday, September 12, 8-9am

This Just In: 1.42 Tons of Trash Removed at Sunnynook!

An e-mail from Alicia Katano at Friends of the LA River:

"You guys did an amazing job thank you so much for coming out and supporting our cleanup! We just got the weights back and sunnynook pulled 1.42 tons of trash…Way to go! We usually don’t advocate going into the islands because that is where birds nest but Netty told me you were all aware and careful and I am sure the egrets, herons, mallards, muscovies, etc. are thanking you for clearing out all of that plastic from their back yards!!! Melissa takes the cake with her waders and tenacity and I love your dolly/trash can idea! We are so going to copy you next year! "

Way to go HVCers and all the other amazing volunteers who came out for the event!

Want to get involved with the Hyperion Volunteer Corps and participate in monthly service projects around our community? 

Come to our next planning meeting on Saturday, May 30th 8am at the Homegirl Cafe 130 W. Bruno St., near Chinatown.

HVC Helps Clean up the LA River

Melissa in her waders, hauled out some huge trash. 

See the entire photo album by clicking here.

from Project Leader Judy:

It was filthy, hard work -- wet, dusty, disgusting at times -- but it was also an incredibly satisfying experience to get out into the river and make a small but worthwhile dent digging out and hauling out trash. Our crew worked underneath and just south of the Sunnynook footbridge, one of the only places on the river that still has a natural bottom. This section of the urban waterway is home to many ducks, geese and heron --and the lush green islands provide a contrast to the starkness of the graffiti tagged concrete banks and the roar of the 5 freeway that run along side them. 

The Friends of Atwater Village were the site captains where we cleaned up.  Netty, one of the founders of FAV and a longtime participant in the cleanup, said that this was the best turnout she has ever seen, and that more people got deeper into the river islands than ever before. She was really impressed by how well prepared we HVC'ers were, and how much dedication and passion we brought to the project. But we were just a handful of the thousands of people who showed up along the length of the river to make a difference. 

It was sobering to see the amount of plastic we hauled out of there. Let's all make a pledge to use as little plastic as possible in our lives. And if you want to do a little more than that, take action here.

I walk the river several mornings a week from Dover down to Fletcher, and I have to say that this morning the river not only looked a little cleaner, but also had that sparkle that comes from being well-loved. Thanks, everyone, for your hard work and dedication. It was a great day!

May 9th Service Project: LA River Clean Up

                                 The LA River Needs Your Help!!

From Project Leader, Judy:

The LA River Clean Up is just a week and a half away. This is a kid-friendly event. Invite your friends and neighbors too for a fun morning among the ducks, heron and other ‘wildlife’ along the river!

I need to get a final head count for those able to participate — we’ve promised at least 20 and only have 11 so far... I’d love to get way more than 20 out there! Please e-mail back letting me know if you can or cannot make it (judy [at] seesawstudios [dot] com. 

Saturday May 9th, 9a-12n
LA River Cleanup with FOLAR (Friends of the LA River) and FAV (Friends of Atwater Village)

Meet at the Sunnynook Footbridge in Atwater Village
(A few blocks north of Glendale Blvd and the Hyperion Bridge, on the Atwater side of the river. Enter the river walk at west end of Sunnynook, off of Valleybrink.)

Bring:

• heavy garden or work gloves 
  
• sunscreen 
  
• hat 
  
• clothes to get dirty in 
  
• trash pickers, fruit pickers, rakes, brooms, dustpans... Anything that might help you grab trash from the trees, brush, etc 
  
• waders or rubber boots if you feel brave enough to venture into the water to do some cleanup in the islands of trees in the middle of the river 
  
• a signed release of liability form (I'll have them at the event for you to sign)
  

We hope to see you there!!

Please Join us for Upcoming Events 

(and bring a friend or two)

Earth Day Potluck & Letter Writing Action
Wednesday, April 22nd (Earth Day)
6:30pm – 9pm
Judy's home
please e-mail judy [at] seesawstudios [dot] com for address information and to RSVP

Bring a dish to share and a laptop computer if you’ve got one.
Judy will provide the printer, envelopes, stamps, etc.

We will be following the lead of a couple of great environmental action groups that have plenty of issues we can write about. Check them out ahead of time if you’d like:

Environment California

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Nature Conservancy


Upcoming Events: Mark Your Calendar

May 9th, 9a-12n
LA River Cleanup with FOLAR 

(details on where to meet in the Atwater/Los Feliz area to follow)

This is a family-friendly event!

Also in the Works

- following up with LA Family Housing on how we can stay involved with the Library and other projects there on a regular basis
- creating a parking-lot organic garden for/with Homegirl Café

Keep Shining a Light!

Judy