Opportunities for Volunteering

The Children’s Bureau of Southern California is seeking foster parents for children who have been physically or emotionally abused. A parent orientation meeting will be held Aug. 22 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the bureau’s office, 1529 E. Palmdale Blvd., Suite 210, Palmdale. Call Judi Waldrip at (661) 272-9996, Ext. 112, or check the bureau’s Web site at

www.all4kids.org.

The Organization for the Needs of the Elderly needs volunteers to visit frail, homebound senior citizens. Participants must give three hours a week to the visiting program. Training starts Sept. 26 at 10:30 a.m. at the Mark Taper Intergenerational Center, 17400 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys. Volunteers are also needed to sell produce, set up booths, fill balloons and help vendors at a Sunday morning farmers’ market. Call Joyce Megna at (818) 705-2345.

Our House, a bereavement center, needs volunteers to work with child and adult grief support groups. Training is provided and hours are flexible. There is a Woodland Hills office and another in West Los Angeles. Call (818) 592-4080.

The East Valley Multipurpose Center in North Hollywood needs volunteers to teach a basic Internet class to senior citizens weekday mornings or afternoons. Call Siouxsie Calderon at (818) 766-5165.

The Friends of the Oviatt Library at Cal State Northridge seeks volunteers to help with fund-raising. Participants help run the Friends’ bookstore, which is scheduled to open in the fall, and sort and prepare donated books for fund-raising book sales. Volunteers get free parking. Call (818) 677-5573 or Joyclyn Dunham at (818) 677-2638

Penny Lane, a North Hills nonprofit group that helps abused and emotionally disturbed teenagers, needs mentors, who must commit to at least one call or visit a week to their assigned teens, who have little or no close family or friends. Call Bob Morris at (323) 461-6943.

The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles needs telephone installers for its emergency response service, which helps homebound people in the San Fernando Valley. Participants connect the service to clients’ telephones and provide instructions to users. Call Jessie Thompson at (213) 739-5246.