Dear Friends of Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA),

These are challenging times for everyone, but even at times like this, HOLA’s staff and volunteers are doing the best they can to rise above the challenge. Volunteer support and in-kind donations are particularly helpful in times of need. Many HOLA families are sadly, already finding it tough to pay for groceries and hold onto their apartments. With your help, HOLA is trying to do all we can to serve these kids and families and give them hope.

As always, many thanks,

Tony M. Brown
Executive Director

College Representatives Visit Heart of Los Angeles
This fall, HOLA’s high school students have had the opportunity to meet representatives of some of the nation’s top universities, including Boston University, UC Berkeley and Duke. The college representatives have met with HOLA’s juniors and seniors to discuss the lifelong advantages of going to college and what their college experience may be like. The representatives have also encouraged the students to explore the possibility of going to college outside of southern California and how they can best tackle the application process. The students are very excited that they now have a point of contact at these schools. Representatives from Yale, UCLA and USC are also planning to visit HOLA in the next couple of months.

SmartStart Elementary Students Visit Madame Chocolate in Beverly Hills
HOLA’s SmartStart elementary students have had a fall semester full of a variety of new learning experiences and opportunities. This month, in addition to reading, math and science lessons, several of the boys and girls were treated to a private Chocolate Party at Madame Chocolat in Beverly Hills. The students were given a lesson in chocolate making by Madame Chocolat herself and they made their very own confections. The event was featured on KCAL’s morning news shows. Madame Chocolat will also be donating the guest favors for this year’s Holiday of the Heart dinner. HOLA is so grateful to Madame Chocolat for her generous support of HOLA!

Latino Heritage Community Circle
HOLA students, along with their families and HOLA staff, celebrated Latino Heritage month with a community circle event. The celebration gave students an opportunity to showcase what they had learned and the projects they had worked on during the past month. The event included fun activities where the youth made traditional Latino crafts and tasted traditional Latino foods. The attendees were also treated to live performances by traditional Aztec dancers and a Mexican band.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Holiday of the Heart
Now in its 15th year, HOLA’s annual Holiday of the Heart gala has become a Los Angeles tradition that draws more than 500 HOLA supporters, including some of the city's most engaged and influential leaders. This year's event honorees include: Actress Jessica Biel, Opera Singer and HOLA’s Master Music Instructor Mani Mekler Baker, and Bingham McCutchen, LLP.

The event will be held on Wednesday, November 12 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. To purchase tickets to the event, or for further information, please contact HOLA’s Director of Development, Gita Wenaweser at 213-389-1148, ext. 241 or gwenaweser@heartofla.org  

 

 

 

 

 

We encourage you to check our website for updates www.heartofla.org. Thank you for your continued support!