HOLA friends! and HOLA to 2009!

This year has gotten off to a great start with the kids. Our Elementary School students continue to arrive after-school, ready and willing to learn until they leave us at 6:00pm. Our Middle School students have really embraced creative writing and research projects focusing on Black History Month and they’ve been visited by artists, writers and participants in the civil rights movement.

HOLA’s High School programs are offering more classes to our freshmen and sophomores and HOLA’s seniors are getting ready for life after high school through our College Prep and Job Ready Teens programs.Heart of Los Angeles would not be able to give these kids the chance to succeed like we do without our amazing volunteers who strengthen the quality of the experiences every child at Heart of Los Angeles receives. So thank you HOLA volunteers for all of your support!

During this trying economic climate, it has become increasingly difficult to fund our athletics and fine arts programs, but your support can help to pay for a referee or for quality arts instruction. As always, thank you for your support of HOLA and our youth.

Tony M. Brown
Executive Director

HOLA BOWLA
Heart of Los Angeles’ annual bowling fundraiser with the Los Angeles Lakers and Fox Sports en Espanol is fast approaching. This year the event will take place on Saturday, March 7th from 2:30pm-6:30pm at Pinz Bowling Center in Studio City, CA. Last year’s event included appearances by Lakers stars Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza, the Laker Girls, and Chivas USA Defenders Jonathan Bornstein and Lawson Vaughn. Suprise guests are being lined up for this year's event.

The event benefits the Central City Basketball Association, an inner-city youth league which is proudly sponsored by the Lakers Youth Foundation and Heart of Los Angeles. The league has served over 2300 young athletes since 1991. Proceeds will help pay for team uniforms, equipment, facility fees, and operating expenses.

To find out how you can participate, check out our website at http://heartofla.org/events

 

 

HOLA Art Students to Exhibit at Stanford University
Seven Heart of Los Angeles students have been given an amazing opportunity to exhibit their work at Stanford University. Each Student will show three of his or her paintings, drawings, and prints. The show will open at the Stanford University Faculty Club on April 11th, 2009 and run for six weeks. The show will be curated by DeDe Evans.

Not only will the artwork be making the tripto Palo Alto, but the artists will be making the exciting journey to attend a reception in their honor. Over the next few months, generous HOLA supporters, Denise Domergue and Angela DuRoss & Jon Taylor, will be hosting fundraisers at their homes to cover the travel costs for this trip.

For more information please contact Gita Wenaweser, HOLA’s Director of Development at 213-389-1148 ext. 241 or gwenaweser@heartofla.org.

 

College Representatives Visit Heart of Los Angeles
This fall, HOLA began the second year of its College Application Workshops. The program pairs college-bound high school students with professionals in the community who help to guide them through the college application process. This year 32 students were paired with 18 mentors, who helped them to submit 70 college applications!

The mentor meetings are supplemented by guest speakers from national universities, as well as workshops designed to help them through different aspects of the application process. "Mentoring two high-school seniors at Heart of Los Angeles has been a truly enriching experience for me. It is a joy to give back to your local community through volunteer work in general; however I was amazed at the unique bond that developed between me and my students. It is fantastic working with teenagers who have the drive and motivation to focus on bettering their future through higher education, despite the hardships that they face on a daily basis school or in their local neighborhood. HOLA's College Mentor Program is truly inspirational." - Mentor Lisa Marie Wynne - HR Director at Paramount.

With HOLA youth already receiving acceptance letters, the attention is turning to making college affordable. To help them along, mentors are meeting up again with their students to begin HOLA’s first-ever Scholarship Application program this spring.

 

HOLA Student Heads to Washington D.C.!
Denise Rodriguez, long-time HOLA student, will be attending the prestigious Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. Denise was the only student from Berendo Middle School to be nominated for this incredible opportunity. The conference, which is sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, offers mature, high-achieving middle school students the opportunity to learn how leadership and social advocacy can make a positive impact in their homes and communities. The conference will take place in Washington D.C. at the end of February, offering workshops and activities to help youngachievers from all across America develop their leadership skills.

When Denise’s mother approached Bridges Daytime Program Director Loren Rubin to ask for help translating with the convention staff, HOLA staff, Board and volunteers sprang into action to collect a scholarship fund to help defray the nearly $2,000 in enrollment fees for Denise’s trip. Hearing of this exciting opportunity, HOLA’s official airline sponsor, Southwest Airlines, stepped in to provide free flights for Denise and completely escorted travel for the 13 year old student.

We are so proud of Denise and so thankful to Southwest Airlines and so many HOLA angels who have stepped in to help!

Local Universities Give Back
On Saturday, January 24th, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) students from Delta Sigma Pi came to Heart of Los Angeles for an afternoon of fun filled activities. HOLA’s SmartStart elementary students enjoyed an afternoon of board games, ping pong, pool, foosball, and arts & crafts. Many of our elementary students will one day be the very first in their families to go to college. This opportunity gave our youth the chance to start building relationships with college students and dream even bigger!

Pepperdine University students hosted 50 HOLA middle and high school youth at their Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Monday, January 19th. The day began with an inspirational talk by world-renowned author and partner to Oprah Winfrey, Stedman Graham, followed by a campus tour and an afternoon of fun on the beaches of Malibu.

HOLA would like to thank all of our university partners for helping to inspire our youth to broaden their horizons and achieve their dreams!

See the Malibu Times coverage of HOLA’s visit to Pepperdine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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