Over One Million Volunteer Man-Hours And Counting: Big Sunday Community Service Empire Kicks Off 17th Year With Big Sunday Weekend, America's Largest Festival Of Community Service, May 1-3, 2015 Across California, Several Other States And In Australia

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Apr 23, 2015, 08:05 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dirty Hands. Open Minds. Big Hearts. The USA's biggest community service festival, Big Sunday Weekend (BSW), May 1-3, 2015, engaging tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life, will take place all over California, from San Diego to the Bay Area, as well as in Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, NY, Colorado, Massachusetts and for the second time, in Australia later this year. Founded in Los Angeles 17 years ago by Hollywood writer David Levinson with just 300 volunteers, the organization 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 build community via community service. 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. Big Sunday Weekend, the signature event of the organization, is a time when volunteers from every walk of life work together to help others. BSW cuts across all social and economic barriers, uniting tens of thousands of diverse volunteers who work side-by-side at scores of different projects over one weekend each spring. Volunteers work at hundreds of local, national and international nonprofits, schools and other agencies at wide-ranging locations that need their help. Community service opportunities exist for every passion, talent, skill and age, lasting anywhere from one hour to two full days. BSW also includes special events such as harbor cruises, book fairs, and pet adoptions. Truckloads of clothes, books, food, furniture, musical instruments, sports equipment, toys and other items are also collected and donated. 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. www.bigsunday.org.

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"It's amazing and humbling to see how many people – from all walks of life – want to work together to light someone else's load and make our world a nicer place. And what's really wonderful is that many people we meet on Big Sunday Weekend become incredibly valued participants in all kinds of Big Sunday events throughout the year." 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.

Recognized nationally, Big Sunday is one of the USA's premiere resources for volunteering year round.

Year-round initiatives include 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; the Big Sunday Emergency Fund, a special fund for non-profits and schools who have immediate needs for themselves or their clients; SPECIAL² , a unique service giving people marking a special occasion 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."

Big Sunday Weekend 2015 Sponsors:

WME
The Kauffman-Skloff Family
Rosenthal Family Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation

Disney
The Moskowitz Family
TriNet
Temple Israel of Hollywood
The Marilyn S. Broad Foundation
Kalosworks.org
Kaiser Permanente
Clif Bar & Company

Arrowhead Mountain Spring Waters
Bernard & Judy Briskin
The Capital Group
Ina Coleman & Alan Wilson
Cornerstone OnDemand
Dreamworks Animation
Joshua L. and Lisa Z. Greer
Gregory L. Hammond
Live Nation
Moss-Adams LLP
Parsons Corporation
Jill Soffer & Greg Adler
Tichenor & Thorp Architects
Wasserman Media Group