Thanksgiving Volunteer Spirit Is Strong

Although demands on local social service agencies have grown with a spate of layoffs, many of those organizations are experiencing an embarrassment of riches as they turn away throngs of Thanksgiving Day volunteers.

“Right now we’re booked for Thanksgiving--even for people starting at 4:30 a.m.,” said Liz Mooradian, a spokeswoman for the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row. “I heard Christmas is even booked already.”

A recording at the Los Angeles Mission says: “We have filled all volunteer positions for Thanksgiving dinner--including [shifts for] expected cancellations.”

Agency executives say that Los Angeles’ charitable response to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks is carrying over to needy communities.

“Everyone’s been more sensitized,” said Mooradian. “We’re receiving money from retired people, people who have lost their jobs. I think in L.A. we’re doing OK.”

Kamara Sams, a Salvation Army spokeswoman, said her agency is also seeing “more volunteers than we can handle.”

In addition, said Sams, “We’re seeing a lot more families volunteering--people who would like their children to get involved in volunteer activity.”

Los Angeles Food Bank officials say that their stores are well-stocked and they have had little difficulty drawing the 50 volunteers needed daily to distribute food to different social service organizations throughout the region.

Several smaller organizations, however, are feeling the strain of serving so many recently laid-off workers in the travel, hospitality and dot-com industries.

Chief among those groups is the Labor Community Services Food and Emergency Program in downtown Los Angeles. Since Sept. 11, the agency, which runs a small food pantry in addition to food distribution services for striking and laid-off union workers, has distributed more than 100,000 pounds of food.

Assistant Director Steven Neal said the program usually feeds about 200 people a day, but is now serving more than 2,500. According to reports he has heard from AFL-CIO union leadership, Neal expects layoffs to bring as many as 6,000 more people to his door in the next two months.

“This is bigger than the [janitorial and MTA bus driver] strikes we did last year because this is affecting far more people for a far longer period of time,” Neal said. “We knew the strikes were coming. . . . This was unanticipated, and we’re spending moneys that we didn’t plan on spending.”

Neal said he has enough volunteers and food, but the organization needs toys for Christmas presents. Donors can call (213) 427-9044.

The Compton Welfare Rights Organization, a 22-family shelter, has seen clients and volunteers come from among laid-off airport workers, said Director Bernice LaCour.

“We put them to work,” she said. “Everybody wants to be useful.”

A benefit rock concert for the United Way of Los Angeles still needs helpers for a silent auction at the show. Volunteers can call Molly Malone’s Irish Pub at (323) 935-1577.

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