The BIG Thanksgiving STUFFING Event: Over 2,000 Volunteers from Every Walk of Life Will Unite from Across Southern California to Work Together to Help Thousands This Holiday Season at Big Sunday Headquarters on Wednesday, November 27, 2019, 9 AM- 12 PM; Many Participants There to Help Will Themselves Receive Assistance

News provided by

Nov 20, 2019, 08:47 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Sunday, one of the USA's foremost organizations connecting people through egalitarian helping and volunteering opportunities will host its 8th Annual BIG Thanksgiving Stuffing Event on Wednesday, November 27^th from 9 AM – 12 Noon at the Big Sunday headquarters at 6111 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038. On the day before Thanksgiving, more than 2,000 volunteers of all ages, races, religions, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, political affiliations and ethnicities will have fun working together sorting food, and stuffing and handing out the bags of food to kick off the holiday season. In classic Big Sunday fashion, many of the participants helping will also be receiving assistance underscoring Big Sunday's belief that the world isn't divided into the "haves" and the "have nots." Rather, the world is full of the "haves" and the "have mores" – everyone, regardless of personal circumstance, has some way in which they can help someone else. This year, Big Sunday plans to give away over 3,000 bags of Thanksgiving food to thousands of families, including victims of domestic violence, runaway teens, seniors, veterans, working poor families, homeless people, ailing people and many others. Everyone participating is also invited to join in for a big community breakfast for all participants hosted by Big Sunday.

Leading the turkey trot with scores of volunteers in tow at Big Sunday's BIG Thanksgiving Stuffing Event in 2016. Photo courtesy Big Sunday/www.bigsunday.org

Participants work at Big Sunday's BIG Thanksgiving Stuffing Event two years ago. On the day before Thanksgiving this year, 2,000 plus volunteers of all backgrounds will work together sorting food, and stuffing and handing out bags of food to kick off the holiday season. Many of the participants helping will also be receiving assistance underscoring Big Sunday's belief that everyone, regardless of personal circumstance, has some way in which they can help someone else. Photo courtesy Big Sunday.

The response to this year's event, particularly at such a polarized time in the USA, has been remarkable. "There are so many people – from all walks of life – who want to work together to make our world a nicer place, and to focus on what we have in common. People love being reminded that we're all in it together, an idea that is at the heart of Big Sunday's work and vision – and one that is particularly resonant right now," 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, corporations and other volunteer organizations. All kinds of groups - schools, religious institutions, businesses, non-profits, individuals and families from across Southern California are already collecting and dropping off hundreds of pounds of food and hundreds of dollars to put toward food in preparation for the event.

Big Sunday (www.bigsunday.org) has been connecting people with opportunities to help, volunteer and to do good works together since 1999. Founded in Los Angeles 21 years ago by David Levinson with just 300 volunteers, Big Sunday has touched over a 1 million lives, engaging, empowering and uniting people of every imaginable background all over California, from San Diego to San Francisco, in 10 different states as well as Australia and the UK. Big Sunday has completed in excess of 1.75 million volunteer man-hours and the organization has collected and distributed hundreds of thousands of items of clothing, food, toiletries, and other essentials. Big Sunday has completed over 30,000 volunteer projects worth millions of dollars in donated goods and services. Recognized nationally, Big Sunday is one of the USA's premiere resources for helping year-round. Big Sunday functions as an efficient and impactful clearing-house of volunteerism and community engagement, organizing and facilitating numerous programs and a host of unique ways for people of every age, background and means to volunteer and/or give, making it easy for diverse people to participate in good works together to support the huge variety of causes that they care about. The organization works as a resource that unites, hosts, and is connected with hundreds of individuals, families and communities, engaging, empowering and bringing together tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life. Big Sunday's mission is to connect people and build community via helping. The organization is driven by the belief that absolutely everyone has some way that they can help someone else. Big Sunday events and programs have become more popular than ever, as people search for a way to focus on what we share in common and to celebrate Big Sunday's belief that we are all in it together. 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's numerous initiatives include the Annual Big Sunday Holiday Volunteering and Giving Opportunities List, which posts over 450 diverse holiday needs and volunteer opportunities during the Holiday Season and is used as a central resource by people everywhere who want to help; TGIW! (Thank God it's Work!) - a program 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 pays 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; We're All In The Same Boat Project, where Big Sunday invites a diverse group of people of all ages from all walks of life for a 2-hour harbor cruise, some of whom have never been on a boat before, and all participants are asked to meet at least one new person and just enjoy each other's company; Corporate Days of Service, offering memorable, meaningful and made-to-order community service events for businesses large and small; MA@2, WM@10 and TM@10, weekly and bi-weekly community service projects hosted in the Big Sunday offices every Monday and Thursday, and the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of every month, when people gather to meet new people, and work together while helping someone else; a year-round Really Big Community Calendar with over 1,200 volunteering and helping opportunities for all kinds of interests, talents, passions, and ages; SPECIAL² , a unique service giving people marking a special occasion (a wedding, 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; and Big Sunday's Youth In Action, the organization's popular toolkit for civic-minded kids and their families.

The BIG Thanksgiving Stuffing Event is a great way to kick-off the Holiday Season! Tremendous opportunities available for wonderful visuals and interviews with a cross section of people discussing what we have in common as a community and how and why they want to help others this Holiday Season.

For more information, to sign up, or to help in other ways, please visit Big Sunday's 8th Annual Thanksgiving Stuffing Event page.

Media RSVP and Talent Inquiries: Rachel Schwartz/PR AdvantEDGE, Inc.

8th Annual Thanksgiving Stuffing Event's Generous Sponsors:
Thrive Market
CBS
The Rosenthal Family Foundation
Marilyn & John Wells
Billy Ray
ICM
Food Forward
Ralphs/Food4Less
The Bishop Family Foundation
The Office of David Ryu/CD 4
Wilshire Rotary Club
Netflix
Sarah Hennelly
Groundwork