Big Sunday Weekend, Largest Region-Wide Community Service Event in America Attracts Tens of Thousands on May 14 and May 15

GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY BUILDING MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO ENGAGE VOLUNTEERS FROM EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD, RACE, RELIGION, ETHNIC, SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP WITH OVER 500 INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO AND SACRAMENTO

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Big Sunday

May 05, 2011, 05:04 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Sunday Weekend, the signature event of the Big Sunday organization, takes place Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, 2011. This year, Big Sunday Weekend expands statewide, with projects from San Diego to the Bay Area and Sacramento. Started in 1999, Big Sunday Weekend is the largest regional community service festival in the USA, with over 50,000 people participating. Big Sunday Weekend cuts across social barriers, bringing together thousands of people of all races, religions, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds from all over California who work together at hundreds of nonprofits, schools and other agencies that need their help. Volunteers participate as individuals, or with their families, schools, churches, synagogues, mosques, businesses or clubs. People unite to assist at more than 500 projects at varied locations helping over 400 organizations across the region. Volunteer opportunities exist for every passion, talent, skill and age. Projects are scheduled throughout the weekend, and last anywhere from one hour to two full days. Big Sunday Weekend also includes special events like art shows, concerts and blood drives. More than 85 truckloads of clothes, books, food, furniture, musical instruments, luggage, toys and other items are also collected and donated to various nonprofits. Big Sunday Weekend is entirely non-denominational, apolitical and free. The projects are funded by private and corporate cash grants and in-kind donations, with PineSol joining the Big Sunday Weekend family of sponsors this year as its Big Clean Sponsor.

To sign-up to volunteer or find other ways to help, please visit www.bigsunday.org.

Big Sunday Weekend is more than a day of volunteering -- it's also about community building.

"These days, there are a lot of people working hard to divide people. I love doing Big Sunday because what we're about, more than anything else, is bringing people together," said David Levinson, Big Sunday's founder and executive director. Levinson, author of Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins, How Absolutely Anyone Can Pitch In. Help Out. and Give Back. to Make the world a Better Place, is an expert in the field of volunteerism and is consulted widely by cities, nonprofits and other volunteer groups.

Big Sunday Weekend 2011 Sponsors:
	Community Champion
		Anonymous
	Community Hero
		PineSol – Big Clean Sponsor
		City of Los Angeles
		CBS Outdoor
		Rosenthal Family Foundation
	Community Leader
		AARP
		Disney
		Fox Gives
		Glidden Professional
		The Home Depot Foundation
		NBC Universal
		Purdy
		Temple Israel of Hollywood
		Wells Fargo
	Community Builder
		Arrowhead Mountain Spring Waters
		City National Bank
		DreamWorks Animation
		Ernst & Young LLP
		Hasbro Studios
		JPMorgan Chase and Co.
		Kaiser Permanente
		The Max Factor Family Foundation
		Oracle
		Paramount Pictures
		Parsons Corporation
		Proskauer Rose LLP
		Tichenor and Thorp Architects
		TriNet
		877 GO JUNK FREE