Over 1 Million Volunteer Manhours as America's Largest Weekend Festival of Community Service Expands to a Month of Big Sundays - 18th Year of Working to Connect Diverse Communities Via Helping Across California, Several Other States and in Australia

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Apr 28, 2016, 10:26 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USA's biggest community service festival, Big Sunday Weekend, now in its 18^th year of helping, will expand for the first time this May to a Month of Big Sundays (MOBS). Big Sunday Weekend, the signature event of the Big Sunday organization, engaged tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life all over California, from San Diego to the Bay Area, as well as in Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, NY, Colorado, Massachusetts and in Australia. Thousands of volunteers participated —some as individuals, others with their families, still others as part of a class, church, synagogue, mosque, business or club—lending a hand at hundreds of different projects. The organization 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. After 17 years, Big Sunday Weekend grew too big to contain everything in just one weekend. In May 2016, Big Sunday will be hosting and/or sponsoring special events every single day of the month as part of A Month of Big Sundays. Hundreds of projects and ways to help will be available for volunteers at the Big Sunday website – www.bigsunday.org. A special part of the inaugural MOBS will be the organization's national "Collect Food for 10K in May" project. Ten thousand units of food– cans, jars, boxes – will be collected for all kinds of grateful and hungry people, including kids, seniors, vets, working poor families and homeless people. People in communities across the USA will be able to participate in a MOBS by either collecting all kinds of non-perishable and unexpired food for their local non-profit helping hungry residents (Big Sunday will help to find local organizations that need help,) or by donating $1 per can of food to "Collect Food for 10K in May" on the Big Sunday website. People can also participate by hosting a food collection in honor of a birthday, anniversary or other special occasion, or by collecting in honor of someone else's special day. Honorees will be listed on the Big Sunday website.

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Founded in Los Angeles 18 years ago by Hollywood writer David Levinson with just 300 volunteers, Big Sunday 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's mission is to connect people and build community via community service. "What I keep seeing is that now, more than ever, most people want to focus on what we have in common. Despite what you hear, there are so many people – from all walks of life – who want to work together to make our world a nicer place," 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.

Big Sunday connects people through helping. As one of the USA's premier resources for volunteering year round, Big Sunday cuts across all social and economic barriers, uniting thousands of diverse volunteers from January to December. MOBS will also bring people together to work side-by-side at scores of different projects for local, national and international nonprofits, schools and other agencies at wide-ranging locations that need their help during the course of May. Opportunities for helping all year and during MOBS exist for every passion, talent, skill and age, lasting anywhere from one hour to a few days' work. A Month of Big Sundays will also include special events such as harbor cruises, book fairs, and pet adoptions. In addition, truckloads of clothes, books, food, furniture, musical instruments, sports equipment, toys and other items will be collected and donated during MOBS.

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.

Big Sunday's varied initiatives include TGIW! (Thank God it's Work!) - a new program designed to help people who are looking for work – but are having a difficult time finding it – get temporary paid work at Big Sunday or at one of the organization's large network of nonprofit partners (Big Sunday will take care of paying the employee, whether the temporary work is at Big Sunday or another nonprofit); the Big Sunday Emergency Fund, a special fund for non-profits and schools who have immediate needs for themselves or their clients; 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; the PROBOlist, a list of pro bono skilled services offered to, and requested by, non-profits; 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; Corporate Days of Service, offering memorable, meaningful and made-to-order community service events for businesses large and small; SPECIAL² , a unique service giving people marking a special occasion (a wedding, anniversary, bar mitzvah, birthday, etc.) opportunities to combine celebrating with giving back; The Lemonade Brigade, an easy way to join the Big Sunday family, anywhere and anytime; Big Sunday's Youth In Action, the organization's popular toolkit for civic-minded kids and their families; 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."

Month of Big Sunday Sponsors:
KKR
The Rosenthal Family Foundation
The Kauffman-Skloff Family
The Capital Group
Disney
HBO
Kalosworks
The Moskowitz Family Foundation
Moss Adams LLP
Parsons
Temple Israel of Hollywood
WME