LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The USA's biggest community service festival, Big Sunday Weekend (BSW), May 16-18, 2014, engaging tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life, will take place all over California, from San Diego to the Bay Area, as well as in Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and NY. For the first time this year, Big Sunday will expand globally, with the initial Big Sunday Australia taking place in Adelaide later this year. Big Sunday's motto is: Everyone Helps, and Everyone Wins. Its mission is to build community via community service. Founded in Los Angeles 16 years ago by Hollywood writer David Levinson with just 300 volunteers, the organization has now completed in excess of 1 million volunteer man-hours, and over 5,000 volunteer projects worth several million dollars in donated in-kind goods and services, and skilled and unskilled labor costs. Big Sunday is driven by the belief that anyone, regardless of how rich or poor, how old or young, your race, religion, gender or ethnicity, can help someone else. Big Sunday Weekend, the signature event of the organization, is a time when volunteers from every walk of life work together to help others. BSW cuts across all social and economic barriers, uniting tens of thousands of diverse volunteers who work side-by-side at hundreds of different projects over one weekend each spring. Volunteers work at hundreds of local, national and international nonprofits, schools and other agencies at wide-ranging locations that need their help. Community service opportunities exist for every passion, talent, skill and age, lasting anywhere from one hour to two full days. BSW also includes special events such as concerts, book fairs, and blood drives. Truckloads of clothes, books, food, furniture, musical instruments, luggage, toys and other items are also collected and donated. Big Sunday is non-denominational and apolitical, and all events are free to all participants. Projects are funded by private and corporate cash grants and in-kind donations. www.bigsunday.org.
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140512/86475
Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140512/86474
"Now that we do so many events year-round, I thought that Big Sunday Weekend would be a lot quieter. But people keep reaching out, wanting to be involved! I guess it just shows how much so many nice people want to help make the world a little better," said David Levinson, Big Sunday's founder and executive director, and author of Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins, How Absolutely Anyone Can Pitch In. Help Out. and Give Back. to Make the World a Better Place. Considered an expert in the field of volunteerism, Levinson is consulted widely by cities, nonprofits and other volunteer groups.
Recognized nationally, Big Sunday is one of the USA's premiere resources for volunteering year round.
Year-round initiatives include The End of the Month Club to address hunger; Monthly on Melrose to benefit non-profit partners; theBIGlist, an online "non-profit matchmaking microsite" where Big Sunday's nonprofit partners post their "wish lists" and are matched with those who wish to help; a year-round Really Big Community Calendar with over 1000 volunteering and helping opportunities for all kinds of interests, talents, passions, and ages; The ARTList, where artists and arts organizations that have helped somebody else through a Big Sunday project can post and announce their events; Big Sunday Corporate Days, when Big Sunday designs and plans corporate days of community service throughout the year; TM@10, a weekly community service project hosted in the Big Sunday offices every Thursday morning, when people gather to meet new people, and work together while helping someone else; and the Annual Big Sunday Holiday Volunteering and Giving Opportunities List, which posts holiday needs and volunteer opportunities during the Holiday Season and is used as a resource by people everywhere who want to help.
Big Sunday was named by the Points of Light Foundation as one of "10 national nonprofits that are making a tremendous impact on our country's most critical challenges by mobilizing volunteers…These organizations also demonstrate a collaborative spirit through partnerships with other organizations to help strengthen communities across the nation."
Big Sunday Weekend 2014 Sponsors:
Community Leader:
The Kauffman-Skloff Family
Rosenthal Family Foundation
KKR
Community Builder:
Cornerstone On Demand Foundation
Disney
The Home Depot Foundation
The Marilyn S. Broad Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
Temple Israel of Hollywood
TriNet
Kalosworks.org
Good Neighbor:
Adconion Media Group
Advil ® #ReliefInAction
Anne & Will Gates
Arrowhead Mountain Spring Waters
The Capital Group
Dreamworks Animation
Ina Coleman & Alan Wilson
Joshua L. and Lisa Z. Greer
Jill Soffer & Greg Adler
Moss-Adams LLP
Paramount Pictures
Parsons Corporation
Proskauer
Relativity Media
Tichenor & Thorp Architects
Wasserman Media Group
Contact: Rachel Schwartz/PR AdvantEDGE Inc.
310.990.2764; Email
Broadcast quality B-roll and photos available