Friday, April 16, 2010

Spend Earth Day-time with CSU, Earth Day-night with TNP

Community Services Unlimited, Inc. is an organization I volunteered with in 2008 at their Thursday produce stand. This Earth Day, they're holding their 2nd Annual Earth Day South LA Event! 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Neelam Sharma
(310) 780 0426, Neelam@csuinc.org

Spanish Media Contact:
Denise Burger, (323) 627-4782, d.burgher@sbcglobal.net

Information: (323) 299 7075 or www.earthdaysouthla.org

EARTH DAY SOUTH LA
SAT, APRIL 17, 11AM-6PM
SOUTH LOS ANGELES GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS,
SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS COME TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE EARTHDAY AND TO EXPLORE THE THEME OF WATER 
The 2nd Annual EARTH DAY SOUTH LOS ANGELES EVENT, Saturday April 17th 2010 from 11am to 6pm will be at Normandie Avenue Elementary School, 4505 S. Raymond Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045. A growing movement in South Los Angeles area has serious momentum and is being expressed through the arts, workshops, and food culture.
Presented by CSU Inc, SOL Foundation and the Normandie Avenue Elementary School, EDSLA over a hundred artists will participate in performances and ceremonies of Music and Dance, Community Mural, Graph Art Pieces, Recycled Art Exhibit and Fashion Show, and an Art Sale. Local food will be showcased with recipe demos, food vendors and produce for sale. Information tables will showcase the work of our partners and other community organizations.

Earth Day South LA (EDSLA) will include performances by Aceyalone of Freestyle Fellowship, Mystic, La Santa Cecilia, Asklyn Atkins, 2Mex, Rifleman, Dyane P, Buyepongo, Caribbean Dynamics, LA Samba Kids and the Normandie Avenue Elementary School Student Orchestra. Dance features the World Famous LA Breakers, Just Wanna Step and Bharata Natyam.  The event will begin with a gathering call from the Freedom Sounds Korean Drumming and an opening ceremony by Azteca Dancers.  A featured project will be the Southern California Library’s Sounds of Justice presented by Jeremy Sole (KCRW) and Kaos Network Beat Cypher Collective.
Normandie Avenue Elementary will be beautified with live graffiti art by Cre8, Duce, EnkOne, and Jeyd curated in collaboration with I.C.U. Art and a Community Mural, Art Sale, Recycled Art Exhibit and Fashion Show curated in collaboration with Liliflor Collective. A Hip Hop Poetry Room will feature an Open-Mic and workshops from BessKepp, NHS Poetry Club and the Get Lit Players. A mini EDSLA Film Festival will show films that reflect the work for a sustainable community, for example, A Drop of Life and The Power of Community. Workshops include Composting, Fruit Tree Pruning, Yoga, Capoiera, Healing With Herbs, Son Jarocho Dance, Recycled Art, How to Start a Food Not Bombs Chapter, Bike Safety and Maintenance and African Drumming. Also on offer will be activities for kids and a local fruit pick.

“Beyond organic” local produce will be featured in cooking demos by chef Gino Campagna (star of Kitchen Kids on AOL.com), Chef Jason Michaud of Local, Sirena Pellarolo from East Side Café and Lisa Nunez Hancock and youth of U R What U Eat. Produce will be available for purchase at the South Central Farmers booth. Pure fruit smoothies, iced herbal/fruit teas, tamales and salads will be on sale.
Our Partners include Councilmembers Jan Perry and Bernard Parks, Bike Oven, City Year, Caracol Marketplace, Community Build, Eastside Café, Food Not Bombs, Hunger Action Los Angeles, Garden School Foundation, Hip Hop Association, I.C.U. Art, LA Conservation Corps, Kaos Network Beat Cypher Collective, Lilliflor Collective Studios, NAES Environmental Club, SOL Cooperative, South Central Farmers, TreePeople, USC Student Activists for a Beloved Community, Southern California Library, and WORKS USA.

We are proud to offer this high quality event in the community, FREE for the community.  There is a suggested donation of $5+ to help cover the costs of the event, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds nor for not making a donation.

Together we envision an annual Earth Day event where community residents in South Central come together in a safe environment to have fun, celebrate our foods and cultures, learn about and participate in sustainable practices, and connect with each other and organizations working to make positive change in our neighborhood.

I won't be able to make it to the Earth Day celebration as I'll be with my parents, thanking them for the gift of life, but I hope that many people can make it out to Normandie Ave. Elementary to check out all the wonderful activities going on.

After spending the day with CSU & their partner organizations, come chill out in Little Tokyo with Tuesday Night Project at the Aries Party Fundraiser at Oiwake, 122 Japanaese Village Plaza, 8:45p-2a. $10 entry, $7 before 10:30p!



Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Free Healthcare 4/27 - 5/3: Remote Area Medical Los Angeles 2010

Remote Area Medical was in Inglewood last year-- and they'll be back in Los Angeles April 27-May 3! Free vision, dental, & medical exams at LA Sports Arena. For the RAM LA website, click here.

Please let any health professionals you may know that they are looking for volunteers!

Press release:
On April 27 – May 3, 2010, Remote Area Medical (RAM) will provide free
medical, dental and vision care to thousands of needy individuals in the Los
Angeles area. The free clinic will be held at Los Angeles Sports Arena
located at 3939 North Figueroa Street , near USC.  1,200 people a day will
be treated—possibly more depending on the final number of volunteers and
participating organizations. The event is planned and operated by Remote
Area Medical, a Volunteer 501(c)(3) charity providing free care to
uninsured, underinsured, and indigent Individuals throughout the United
States.  For more information visit:

Free care will be provided to anyone who needs it, without cost of any kind
to the patient, the taxpayer or the government. There is no income test, no
insurance requirement, and no restriction of any kind. Medical and
non-medical personnel will all be volunteers; supplies and equipment will be
donated or provided by RAM. There will be at least 100 dental stations, 45
medical exam rooms, 25 eye exam stations. Dentistry will include cleanings,
extractions, fillings, restorative procedures and root canals. Prescription
eye glasses will be ground and fitted on-site. Minor dermatological and
other medical procedures will be performed. Pediatricians and pediatric
dentists will be present. Follow-up care will be arranged for those who need
it, with most referrals to private sector practices and facilities.

There will be a strong emphasis on education, prevention and self-care.
Mammography, pap smears, chest x-rays, and diabetes screening, blood
pressure screening, and other services will be provided. Healthcare
foundations and agencies will also distribute patient education materials.
RAM/LA is a large undertaking, on a scale to make a significant difference
in this time of great and urgent need. Success is achieved through medical
and non-medical volunteers, local healthcare organizations, equipment and
supply donors, and others who contribute their time, talents and resources.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tuesday Night Cafe 12th Season Begins!

Hello, springtime. That means the 1st&3rd Tuesday Night Cafe presented by Tuesday Night Project season is beginning again! Woohoo! Yes.


Parking's going to be insane, but Joe's on 2nd is only $4 after 4pm. Also, the Metro Gold Line now has a stop at Alameda & 1st. 


Seems like just yesterday we were getting ready for the TNC season opener at Remy's On Temple. Seems like just the day before that when I walked into a TNC for the first time at Lost Souls Cafe in 2008. How time flies.


If you can't make it out on a weeknight, come celebrate TNC's 12th season & Aries birthdays at Oiwake in J. Village Plaza on April 17th (which happens to be my actual birthday, too!).TNC's 12 years old --> TNC's a Tiger. Rahr. 

21+ only, $7 before 10:30p, $10 after. 

It's a fundraiser! A few bucks won't suck (to help keep one of DTLA's longest-running FREE public art spaces going), right?