City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 3/17/2008 Item Number: A-9
AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of the “Big Sunday” Event and Consideration of the
City’s Participation in the Event.
Contact Person/Dept.: Armando Abrego
Parks, Recreation & Community Services
Manager
Phone Number: 310-253-6724
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master Notification List (03/12/08)
Department Approval: Bill La Pointe,
Parks, Recreation & Community Services
Director (3/10/08)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (03/12/08)
Fiscal Impact Review:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (03/13/08)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood by Marlee Chang
(03/13/08)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council discuss the information provided on the “Big
Sunday” event and provide staff with further direction as deemed necessary.
BACKGROUND:
“Big Sunday” volunteer come from neighborhoods all over the greater Los Angeles
area - now including Orange County, Ventura County and the Inland Empire–and
volunteer in neighborhoods all over the greater Los Angeles area, too. The volunteer
event takes place over a single weekend. The idea behind the event is to provide
volunteer opportunities of all kinds for anyone who wants to serve and contribute to
their community. A Big Sunday “fact sheet” is provided as Attachment 1.
Beginning in 2006 Big Sunday became an official event of the City of Los Angeles’
Mayor's Office. The City of Los Angeles and especially Mayor Villaraigosa strongly
support the event through staff time and press coverage. The City is considered a
major sponsor of the event.
Non-profits and schools post volunteer opportunities on the Big Sunday website for
volunteers to select the way that they would like to participate. An example would
be: “We need 30 volunteers to repaint the mural on the side of our school.” A
sample of examples of Big Sunday projects from previous years is provided as
Attachment 2. In addition, community venues such as schools, recreation centers,
and others can serve as sites for events such as clothing or canned food drives
designed to benefit several local non-profits at once. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Big Sunday will be celebrating its 10
th
year in 2008. Its Executive Director David
Levinson spoke to the City Council on Monday, March 3
rd
and a consensus was
reached to agendize a report providing more information about Big Sunday,
including the various means of participation, any related fiscal impact, and allow the
City Council an opportunity to determine if this is a program in which the City Council
wishes the City to participate.
DISCUSSION:
For the 2008 Big Sunday event, the deadlines have passed for both submitting an
event and for becoming a monetary sponsor whose name and contribution would
appear in printed materials. In future years, the City’s involvement with and support
of Big Sunday could take place in several different forms, with varying levels of cost
and staff time involved. Following are some examples of these levels:
Participating without Creating a City-Sponsored Volunteer Site
Level One
The City could demonstrate support for the existing Big Sunday event by publishing
a link to the Big Sunday website and publicizing the event on both the City’s
homepage and internal website (SWAMI). This would increase community
knowledge of the event and likely direct more potential volunteers to local non-profits
and volunteer sites which are already listing their volunteer event with Big Sunday.
Level Two
The City could support the Big Sunday event by becoming a sponsor. Levels of Big
Sunday sponsorship range from $1,000 to $100,000. As with most event
sponsorships, press exposure, logo exposure, t-shirt exposure, etc. fluctuates
depending on sponsorship level (Attachment 3).
Participating by Creating a City-Sponsored Volunteer Site
Big Sunday provides all of its volunteer sites with snacks and refreshments, along
with t-shirts and some supplies (depending on the project needs). However, any
City-sponsored event would require lead time, both to coordinate site rentals and to
publicize the event. Time would be needed to recruit staff and volunteers to create,
coordinate and participate in the event. It would also be necessary to research and
contact local non-profit partners. For example, if the City decides to have a food
drive on Big Sunday, then staff would need to select and contact local food banks for
participation, recruit volunteers, and coordinate the pick-up and delivery of the
donated goods. The following are some examples of different levels and types of
events:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Level One: Small Scale Event
Canned food drive at the Culver City Senior Center
Estimate of pre-event staff involvement: 1 or 2 staff @ 2 hours a week for month
Estimate of staff involvement on the day of the event: 5 staff members
Estimated minimum number of volunteers needed: 15
Level Two: Medium Scale Event
Clothing drive, book drive, assembling plant holders for seniors at Veterans
Auditorium
Estimate of pre-event staff involvement: 5 staff @ 5 hours a week for two months
Estimate of staff involvement on the day of the event: 20 staff members
Estimated minimum number of volunteers needed: 30
Level Three: Large Scale Event
Various volunteer projects in each room of the Vets complex
Estimate of pre-event staff involvement: 20 staff @ 10 hours a week, for six months
(to form a community committee, do local business outreach, etc.)
Estimate of staff involvement on the day of the event: 40 staff members
Estimated minimum number of volunteers needed: 80
It should be noted that the City is in the process of developing a Volunteer
Management Program Policy, the guideline of the new policy should be followed if
the City Council approved this event as City-sponsored activity,
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
If the City chose to have a City-sponsored event that involved staff time as in the
examples above, the main expense would most likely be in staff salaries. Staff
salaries vary according to the classification of the staff member. The following are
some estimates of the cost of salaries (without taking the cost of benefits into
account) in the examples above. All salaries have been computed at the highest
classification level.
All levels of events would require flyers. The cost for flyers (black and white on
colored paper) is $6.00 per 100 flyers. Event levels 2 and 3 would benefit from
banners for advertising. Three banners are approximately $1,600. News paper
advertisements in the local newspapers range anywhere from $240.00 for a quarter
page ad to $710.00 for a full page ad (prices vary depending upon the “specials”
being offered by the newspapers at the time of publication).
The following are estimates of the expense to the City for serving as a City-
sponsored Big Sunday volunteer site at Levels 1, 2, and 3:
Level One: Small Scale Event
Pre-event staff involvement: 1 or 2 staff @ 2 hours a week for month: City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
1 - Senior & Social Services Supervisor: $316.32
1 -Senior & Social Services Specialist: $231.04
Day of the event: 5 staff members for 8 hours
1- Senior & Social Services Supervisor: $316.32
3 -Senior & Social Services Specialists: $693.12
1 - Administrative Clerk RPT: $153.76
Estimated total salary expenditure: $1,710.56
Estimated cost of printed materials and publicity: $500.00
Estimated event total cost – Level One: $2,210.56
Level Two: Medium Scale Event
Pre-event staff involvement: 5 staff @ 5 hours a week for two months
1- Senior & Social Services Supervisor: $1,581.60
3 -Senior & Social Services Specialists: $3,465.60
1 - Administrative Clerk RPT: $768.80
Day of the event: 19 staff members for 8 hours; 1 for 4 hours
3-Recreation Leader I – Step HC: $236.40
3-Recreation Leader II – Step HC: $303.36
3-Senior Recreation Leader – Step E: $342.00
2-Parks Maintenance Crew Leader – Step E: $431.04
1-Parks Maintenance Supervisor – Step E: $287.76
1-Senior & Social Services Manager – Step E: $213.28
Estimated total salary expenditure: $7,629.84
Estimated cost of printed materials, publicity and banners: $2,500.00
Estimated event total cost – Level Two: $10,129.84
Level Three: Large Scale Event
Pre-event staff involvement: 20 staff @ 10 hours a week, for six months
3-Recreation Leader I – Step HC: $7,092.00
3-Recreation Leader II – Step HC: $9,100.80
3-Senior Recreation Leader – Step E: $10,260.00
2-Parks Maintenance Crew Leader – Step E: $12,931.20
1-Parks Maintenance Supervisor – Step E: $8,632.80
1-Senior & Social Services Manager – Step E: $1,279.68
SUBTOTAL: $49,296.48
Day of the event: 40 staff members for 8 hours*
1-Senior & Social Services Supervisor: $316.32
4-Senior & Social Services Specialist: $924.16
3-Administrative Clerk RPT – Step RC: $461.28
2-Secretary – Step E: $371.68
6-Recreation Leader I – Step HC: $472.80 City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
6-Recreation Leader II – Step HC: $606.72
6-Senior Recreation Leader – Step E: $684.00
4-Recreation Coordinator RPT – Step RC: $816.00
1-Recreation Supervisor – Step E: $289.20
4-Parks Maintenance Crew Leader – Step E: $862.08
2-Parks Maintenance Supervisor – Step E: $575.52
1-Senior & Social Services Manager – Step E: $426.56
SUBTOTAL: $6,806.32
* Please note that the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department
may not have staff available at all of the levels detailed above to work at the
event. If this is the case, the City would need to draw staff at similar levels from
other departments to staff a Level 3 event.
Estimated total salary expenditure: $56,102.80
Estimated cost of printed materials, publicity, banners and newspaper
advertisement: $3,500.00
Estimated event total cost – Level Three: $59,602.80
In addition to the estimated expenses above, if the City plans on using rooms in the
Senior Center or at the Veterans Memorial Building, there is a potential loss of
revenue from renters. For example, the Veterans Memorial Building Auditorium
rents for $3,960.00 for a full day.
Should the City Council choose one of the options above to become a City-
sponsored volunteer site next year, the cost of the event, would need to be taken
into consideration during the current budget process, since funds are currently not
available in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department budget for
such an event.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Big Sunday Fact Sheet
2. Samples of Big Sunday Projects
3. Big Sunday Sponsorship Levels
MOTION:
That the City Council:
Discuss the information provided on the “Big Sunday” event and provide staff with
further direction as deemed necessary.
MEETING DATE: March 17, 2008
AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of the “Big Sunday” Event.
ATTACHMENTS
Page
1. Big Sunday Fact Sheet
1
2. Big Sunday Project Sampler 2-4
3. Big Sunday Sponsorship Levels
5-7
BIG SUNDAY
BIG SUNDAY is an annual volunteer week-end. Last year on Big Sunday, done in partnership with the
Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, 50,000 volunteers from hundreds of congregations, schools,
offices, clubs and other groups volunteered at more than 300 different non-profits.
BIG SUNDAY volunteers come from neighborhoods all over the greater Los Angeles area – and volunteer
in neighborhoods all over the greater Los Angeles area, too. In 2007, volunteers came from Orange County
to Ventura County, and the Inland Empire, too! There are volunteer opportunities for every passion, every
talent, and every age. Projects are scheduled throughout the weekend to work with any schedule. Projects
can last anywhere from one hour to two days.
Everything about BIG SUNDAY is completely non-denominational and non-political. All anyone is asked
for is their time and their talent (in other words, no money). The day is totally underwritten by private,
corporate, and foundation grants and donations.
BIG SUNDAY projects are designed to be completed on Big Sunday weekend; however, for many, BIG
SUNDAY is just the beginning of an involvement that continues throughout the year. (In addition, each
year, Big Sunday does scores of holiday projects between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.)
BIG SUNDAY started as a community service day. Today it has grown into a full weekend of community
building, too. You see, the idea behind BIG SUNDAY is that no matter who you are, no matter where you
live, no matter what you do, everyone has some way they can help someone else.
Everyone helps, everyone wins.
Attachment 1
1Project Sampler – reprinted from the Big Sunday website: www.bigsunday.org
Big Sunday does hundreds of projects every year for a wide variety of social service and
nonprofit organizations all over the greater Los Angeles area. Our volunteers paint, build,
repair, plant, play, cook, sew, organize, entertain, sell lemonade, decorate cookies, make
greeting cards and deliver food. Below you’ll find a taste of the types and variety of projects
we have done for the past decade. If you’re interested in volunteering on Big Sunday
weekend, May 3 & 4 2008, you can see a complete list of projects starting April 1st when
we’ll post them on the website.
Helping the Homeless – Big Sunday undertakes many projects that help the homeless,
including throwing parties at shelters, cooking meals and providing clothes, toiletries and
other supplies. For example, at the Hawkes Transitional Center downtown, we’ve helped
scores of homeless women feel they are “Queens for a Day.” We bring in professional hair
stylists and make-up artists to make these women look good and feel great as they make
their transition back to work. Additional volunteers help each client choose an outfit from a
wardrobe of donated clothes and accessories, serve food and play music. This sort of project
is intended for adult volunteers only.
Serving Seniors – If you like working with seniors, we have tons of projects for you — from
visiting nursing homes to refurbishing senior centers to hosting a “senior prom.” Or you
might, for example, do lunch (and party on) with some seniors and their caregivers at the
Assistance League of Southern California in Hollywood. One year, the league asked us to
make and deliver grooming kits for shut-ins and to throw a luncheon party for caregivers and
their loved ones. It sounded great, so we said, “Yes. And yes.” Our volunteers helped cook
and serve lunch, pack and deliver the kits, and, of course, schmoozed with the seniors! All
the while, a Mariachi band made music.
Caring for Kids – We know many of you love helping kids, so we have lots of projects for
you too. We help runaway teens, teenage mothers, physically and emotionally abused
children, disadvantaged school-age kids, homeless children and many more. For instance, at
the Bert Corona Charter School in Pacoima — named for a Latino activist who dedicated his
life to achieving social and economic justice for underserved immigrant communities — our
volunteers worked with the nice folks from The Walt Disney Company and TreePeople to
plant sod and create a field for the kids to play on. And, oh yeah, we planted trees. Lots and
lots of trees.
Giving Away the ‘Goodies’ – Each year, we give truckloads of things away to needy people
from all walks of life. We get requests for everything from toiletries to books to household
cleaners to toys to dishes to diapers to goody baskets. In 2007, for instance, we collected,
assembled and gave away thousands of baskets, bags and backpacks full of necessities,
goodies and other requested items to homeless people, disadvantaged school kids, battered
women, troubled teens, low-income families, patients in hospices and other needy people all
over town. The groups we helped included First UMC of Santa Monica’s Upward Bound
House, St. Mary’s Center, Inside-Out Writers Inc., Florence Crittenton Center, Harvest Home,
Attachment 2
2Gramercy House, Friend and Helpers, Daybreak, Turning Point, P.A.T.H., Casa de Rosas,
the St. Francis Center, OPCC and many others. To make all this happen, our volunteers —
some as young as age 5 — came to a central location in Hollywood and, assembly-line-style,
helped us put these baskets together, made ‘em look great, and got ‘em where they needed
to go.
Nurturing Nature – Big Sunday has always done a lot to preserve the environment all over
L.A. We’ve planted gardens, cleaned beaches and rivers, planted trees, recycled and e-
cycled. (This year, to underscore our commitment in this area, Big Sunday is launching
Green Sunday. Click here to learn more.) A good example of how we get back — and give
back — to nature can be found in our work at the Whittier Narrows Nature Center in El
Monte. This beautiful (and enormous) park needed weeding, clearing, cleanup and invasive
plant removal. Our volunteers always give it their all. So, though, do the nice folks from the
San Dimas Canyon Nature Center, who’ve come and entertained our volunteers (especially
the young ones) with a falcon, a hawk and a Kingsnake.
Lending a Paw – Here at Big Sunday, we love animals. And so do a lot of our volunteers
who help out at animal shelters, take disadvantaged kids and adults on horseback rides,
bring animal and science shows to schools and shelters, and much more. At the
Daphneyland Basset Rescue Ranch in Acton, for example, our volunteers helped spiff up 91
basset hounds who’d been rescued and were waiting to be adopted. While they were at it,
they spiffed up the ranch, too. We even tossed in a little incentive: a free Big Sunday
sweatshirt (retail value: $45) to anyone who adopted one of the big boys.
Assisting Those with AIDS – At Big Sunday, we help many nonprofit groups that help
people living with HIV/AIDS. Among them: Project New Hope, which provides opportunities
for low-income and homeless people struggling with AIDS; APLA, which focuses on
prevention advocacy and service; and The Serra Project, which runs three residential group
homes for AIDS/HIV patients and has been part of Big Sunday since our very first year.
What exactly do we do here? A bit of everything. At The Serra Project’s Casa Long Beach
facility, for instance, our volunteers (again, some as young as 5) have planted, painted,
repaired, cleaned and cooked. We’ve also brought gifts on residents’ wish lists.
Digging Up the Dirt – Calling all green thumbs. If you love to garden, plant, weed and
mulch, there’s lots to do on Big Sunday to keep the dirt under your fingernails. We garden at
schools, group homes, shelters — just about anywhere we can find a patch of dirt that needs
some greening. For example, the Cesar Chavez House (part of L.A. Family Housing) in
Boyle Heights is a nice shelter serving homeless families. They asked us to prepare and
install a vegetable and flower garden for use by shelter residents and the surrounding
neighborhood. So we did. But that’s not all. While the garden was being created, other
volunteers threw our annual Big Sunday party for the kids at the shelter and those in the
surrounding neighborhood.
3Partying All Night Long (Well, At Least All Day) – Are you a host or hostess
extraordinaire? A prince or princess of parties? We host outings and soirees for
underprivileged groups of all kinds and could use your help. At Bayshore Lanes in Santa
Monica, for example, we’ve bowled with Best Buddies, a group that fosters one-on-one
friendships between volunteers and developmentally disabled adults. Each volunteer gets
assigned a “buddy” to bowl with. Then, you just bowl away! Have pizza! Have cake! And have
a blast! This Big Sunday highlight, for ages 18 and up, grows every year and many lasting
friendships have started at this event. If bowling is not your thing, you might join some blind
and physically challenged kids for a get-together at Junior Blind of America in Culver City. In
the past, we’ve had a very special guest at these gatherings: The Amazing Captain Carl and
his Mobile Tide Pools! No wonder that every year this party is a Big Sunday highlight.
Providing Hope at the Hub – If you’re not exactly sure what you want to do on Big Sunday,
don’t worry. You can join us at one of our many hub locations — they’re usually located at
churches or synagogues throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. They’ll put you to work
helping with one or more of the many projects they tackle throughout the day at their site.
Many sort clothes and books, bake cookies, knit, assemble gift baskets and write cards for
soldiers and much more. Here’s just one example from one hub site: A couple of years ago,
our dear friends at St. Michael and All Angels’ Church in Sherman Oaks had a day helping
the troops and it was such a success (and so needed and appreciated by so many) that they
decided to do it again. So the next year, they hosted a bake sale, “winner cake all” and craft
sale to benefit Wounded Warriors, the Evan Ashcraft Memorial Foundation, as well as Fisher
House in San Diego, which provides free or low-cost housing to veterans and military families
whose loved ones are being treated at military medical centers and hospitals.
4
BIG SUNDAY ‘08
everyone helps, everyone wins
Saturday May 3 & Sunday May 4, 2008
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Community Champions Participation Level: $100,000
• Title identification as “Community Champion” with logo on BIG SUNDAY web site –
“most prominent exposure”
• Community Champion title identification by name and logo on BIG SUNDAY flyers,
brochures, posters, and other materials **
• Community Champion Logo printed on BIG SUNDAY T-shirts **
• Community Champion usage of BIG SUNDAY name or logo for PR initiatives or
advertising (with prior approval of BIG SUNDAY)
• Inclusion of Community Champion name and logo in BIG SUNDAY advertising
• Live link to Community Champion’s web site through December 2008
• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
Attachment 3
5• Limit of one Community Champion sponsor per industry. Limit of three Community or
Green Champion sponsors.
• First right of refusal for BIG SUNDAY 2009
• Comparable sponsorship benefits to Green Champions.
Community Heroes Participation Level: $50,000
• Title identification as “Community Hero” with logo on BIG SUNDAY web site –
“prominent exposure”
• Community Hero title identification by name and logo on BIG SUNDAY flyers,
brochures, posters, and other materials**
• Community Hero logo printed on BIG SUNDAY T-shirts **
• Community Hero usage of BIG SUNDAY name or logo for PR initiatives or advertising
(with prior approval of BIG SUNDAY)
• Inclusion of Community Hero name and logo in BIG SUNDAY advertising
• Live link to Community Hero’s web site through December 2008
• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
Community Leaders Participation Level: $25,000
• Title identification as “Community Leader” with logo on BIG SUNDAY web site
• Community Leader title identification by name and logo on BIG SUNDAY
flyers, brochures, posters, and other materials**
• Community Leader logo printed on BIG SUNDAY T-shirts **
• Community Leader usage of BIG SUNDAY name or logo for PR initiatives or
advertising (with prior approval of BIG SUNDAY)
• Inclusion of Community Leader name and logo in BIG SUNDAY advertising
• Live link to Community Leader’s web site through December 2008
• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
Community Builders Participation Level: $10,000
• Title identification as “Community Builder” logo on BIG SUNDAY web site
• Community Builder title identification by name only (not logo) on BIG SUNDAY flyers,
brochures, posters, and other materials**
• Community Builder name printed on BIG SUNDAY T-shirts **
• Community Builder usage of BIG SUNDAY name or logo for PR initiatives or
advertising (with prior approval of BIG SUNDAY)
• Inclusion of Community Builder name in BIG SUNDAY advertising
• Live link to Community Builder’s web site through December 2008
6• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
** As long as print deadlines are met
*** Distribution of Sponsor’s products with approval of BIG SUNDAY
Current Deadlines and Printed Material Numbers:
Brochures Friday, February 29 25,000 plus
Posters & Postcards Friday, February 29 35,000 plus
T-Shirts: Friday, February 29 35,000 plus
ADDITIONAL SPONSORSHIPS
Community Organizers
$5,000-$9,999
• Inclusion of Sponsor’s name on the web site
• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
Good Neighbors
$2,500 - $4,999
• Inclusion of Sponsor’s name on the web site
• Sponsor’s use of BIG SUNDAY as a Company Day of Service at a specific event or
site(s); if you like, BIG SUNDAY can work with you to find appropriate site(s).
Friends
$1,000 - $2,499
• Inclusion of Sponsor’s name on the web site
Helpers
Up to $999
• Inclusion of Sponsor’s name on the web site
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