Festival Is Matchmaker for Volunteers, Groups

Altruism was celebrated throughout Los Angeles on Saturday during the city’s first Volunteer Festival.

The festival, involving about 100 organizations at each of four sites, was a chance for volunteer groups to recruit members and for residents eager to lend a hand to find the group best for them.

Residents milled around information booths, some stopping to gather information from such groups as the Culver City-based Suicide Prevention Center and the League of Women Voters in Los Angeles.

Entertainment came from organizations such as the North Hollywood’s Activities for Retarded Children, whose bell choir provided music.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Wendall Howard, 57, of Van Nuys, who was at the Cal State Northridge site. “This is why I came here today.”

Howard and many other Los Angeles residents were at the festival’s four locations--the San Fernando Valley, West Los Angeles, Harbor/San Pedro or Central/East Los Angeles--for similar reasons. They wanted to find a way to give back to their communities.

That is exactly what Mayor Richard Riordan had in mind when he envisioned the event, connecting residents to the volunteer opportunities in their area, said Deputy Mayor Stephanie Bradfield.

“The mayor has made volunteerism a priority because so much can be accomplished by volunteers,” Bradfield said.

The events concentrated as much on people who do not volunteer as those who do.

“I think people are taking advantage of this because it’s an opportunity to see what groups are out there and where they can fit in,” said June Chu, assistant director of the city’s volunteer bureau.

And if the festival still did not make choosing an organization any easier, there were groups available that made it their business to match people with volunteer organizations.

Both L.A. Community Action Network and Cal State Northridge’s volunteer services match volunteers with groups that need them.

“A lot of times people don’t know where they’re needed or if they’ll even like what a group does, so we try and help them out,” said Jodee Armstrong, president of the L.A. Community Action Network.

Along with the nonprofit organizations, city agencies such as the Police Department and the Fire Department were on hand.

“I don’t think people realize how valuable volunteers are,” said Gabriella Rodriguez, who was representing the San Fernando-based Latin American Civic Assn. Head Start program. “Everyone needs volunteers.”

Dixie Sutter Henrikson, who founded Activities for Retarded Children 31 years ago, said volunteerism helps society, but also just makes you feel good.

“I do this because I love these children,” she said, “because they need me.”