RIORDAN CALLS FOR VOLUNTEERS; FESTIVAL FEATURES GROUPS THAT HELP COMMUNITY.Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. called on residents to volunteer their time in a myriad Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 104 = 10 000. In modern English the word refers to an unspecified large quantity. The term myriad is a progression in the commonly used system of describing numbers using tens and hundreds. of community causes, in a statement delivered Sunday at the second annual Volunteer Festival. About 80 booths were set up at each of two sites to recruit volunteers for groups ranging from AIDS Walk AIDS Walk is a walkathon fundraiser that raises money to combat the AIDS epidemic. The funds raised from AIDS Walks usually benefit a local AIDS service organization (such as Gay Men's Health Crisis or the AIDS Project Los Angeles), which provide services and advocacy for local Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to the Union Rescue Mission The Union Rescue Mission (URM) is a private, Christian, homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles's skid row. It is the largest, private, homeless shelter in the United States. . This year's festival was held at Los Angeles Valley College LAVC redirects here. For the software library, see libavcodec. The university is adjacent to Grant High School. Often called "Valley College" or simply "Valley" by those who frequent the campus, it opened its doors to the public on September 12, 1949, at which time the campus was in Van Nuys and on the street in front of the George C. Page George C. Page was a farmer boy from Fremont, Nebraska who left for California at the age of sixteen because of an orange. He had only $2.30. He worked as a busboy and a dishwasher until he had earned $1000 dollars. Museum on Museum Row. The entire effort is organized by the mayor's Volunteer Bureau, which reported signing up 30,000 volunteers to put in more than 1 million hours of service last year. In a prepared statement, Riordan touted the festival, calculating that last year's volunteer hours saved city taxpayers an estimated $45 million in services. ``This festival takes the mystery out of volunteering and gives Angelenos a direct link to the organizations they are most interested in helping,'' the mayor said. Rita Rodriguez, a UPS driver from Van Nuys, took the opportunity Sunday to find out more about becoming a volunteer. She said she had some extra time and thought the festival was a perfect opportunity for her to find out more about possible volunteer causes. The Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization caught her attention. ``There's a lot of kids out there who need guidance,'' she said. ``Sometimes they just need someone to let them know that they have options and how to get there.'' Rhonda Olds, a student at Los Angeles Valley College, said she also was considering volunteer work with youths. ``We as a society should help to take care of each other,'' she said. ``Young children and the elderly can't always protect themselves, and sometimes they don't have someone to give them that little bit of help they need.'' For more information on programs organized through the city's Volunteer Bureau, call the city at (213) 485-6984 or (888) CARE-4-LA. |
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