LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS JOINS “BIG SUNDAY 2006” DAY OF SERVICE;VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT TO JOIN TEAM LAWA AT BEACH CLEAN-UP AND WESTCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL BEAUTIFICATION

(Los Angeles, California – April 28, 2006) Airport-area and Westside residents of all ages and businesses are invited to join Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) employees in efforts to beautify Westchester High School and to clean up the beach with Heal the Bay on May 7, as part of the citywide Big Sunday ’06 annual day of service.

Volunteers can mobilize with other service-minded individuals at more than 200 events at non-profit sites around Los Angeles. Information and registration for the two airport-area and other events are available by visiting the website www.bigsunday.org.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villariagosa is joining the eighth annual Big Sunday Day of Service organizers to try to make the event the largest citywide volunteer day in America.

Los Angeles World Airports employees under the banner of Team LAWA are inviting the airport community and others to join them for the big volunteer effort at two LAX-area events. These are:

• Westchester High School -- Organizers are landscaping, painting and beautifying the school campus, 7400 Westchester Ave., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For information, visit the website under event number 200. Supplies and refreshments will be provided.
• Heal the Bay Beach Cleanup – Organizers are meeting at 6200 Pacific Playa Ave., LAX Big Sunday Volunteer Events from 10 a.m. until noon, for a beach clean-up. For specific information, visit the website under event number 112.

Volunteer registration for these two LAX-area events is also available by calling LAWA Big Sunday ’06 coordinator Judith Gorum at (310) 348-2525 or by e-mail at jgorum@lawa.org.

According to Big Sunday organizers, the event started in 1999 as Temple Israel’s Mitzvah Day. By 2005, it had evolved into an annual, citywide volunteer day involving more than 8,000 volunteers from more than 100 different churches, synagogues, schools, offices and clubs helping nearly 150 non-profit organizations. Last fall, Mayor Villaraigosa conducted the first Citywide Day of Service that attracted 7,500 volunteers, who performed numerous projects at six public high schools in Los Angeles. This year, Mayor Villaraigosa is supporting a combined effort to improve the city.

The projects selected for Big Sunday ’06 are those can than be completed in one day. However, organizers aim to inspire volunteers and organizations to continue the effort throughout the year.

Organizers said the idea behind the event is that no matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what you do, everyone has some way in which they can help someone else.