Thanks to everyone who came out to Hollywood Forever Cemetery last weekend! Together, we raised close to 5,000 pounds of food!

Fed Up With Hunger collaborated with B’nai David-Judea during Sukkot last week and helped feed the community, outside, in the temple’s sukkah. Check out this little video:

Last night’s Ghostbusters screening at the Hollywood Forever cemetery was a (slime) blast! Thanks to everyone who helped plan it over @EILI and to all who came out with cans of food. Pat yourselves on the back; you really stepped up to the plate, folks and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Check out the photos below, and be sure to click through here to see some short vids we took. Also: Check back soon for a little doc we’re cutting now about the evening.

Last night at a community-wide event in downtown Los Angeles, I sat down with an unlikely cast of dining partners including students of Para Los Niños Charter School and their families, colleagues from the Jewish Federation, members of the Chrysalis program, and other guests. We shared in the pure magic of an evening where Angelenos of all races, languages, and religions came together to celebrate Sukkot.

The event was the brainchild of Andrew Cushnir, Associate Executive Vice President of The Jewish Federation, in partnership with Gisselle Acevedo, President/CEO of Para Los Niños. The program included many distinguished guest speakers, but the highlight of the evening occurred when the 3rd and 4th graders from Para Los Ninos and Heschel Day School took the stage together and sang songs in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. Led by song leader Cindy Paley, the children were the expression of unity, hope and peace in our community. They sang from their hearts with their faces aglow.

I was surprised at how many emotions the event evoked in me. As part of the Fed Up With Hunger initiative, I felt joy and frustration, gratitude and guilt as I ate a healthy portion of fajitas, salad, and churros. While many of us eat what we want, whenever we want, with whomever we want, I was reminded yesterday of the harsh realities of hunger and poverty here in Los Angeles. 1 in 8 people, over 1 million Angelenos, face hunger every day!

But, I was also reminded of so many heroes in our community that fight this fight every day. And at the end of the evening, I felt hopeful.

Congratulations to the teachers of Para Los Niños and teachers everywhere, who continue to educate our children, nurture their souls, and feed their stomachs. Please think about volunteering and/or donating. Trust me when I tell you how worthwhile the experience of getting involved is. Last night, those kids gave my life meaning!

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Milken Community High School’s Wendy Ordower and Los Angeles Federation Diller Teen Lindsy Seidel discuss hunger.

More than 150 Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other faith leaders met Tuesday under a sukkah, a traditional Jewish hut, to vow to work together to put an end to hunger in Los Angeles.

Clergy noted that though the goal of eradicating hunger sounds overwhelming, the collaboration of faith communities can make even the most difficult endeavors attainable.

“All movements – against slavery (and other injustices) – all looked romantic and quixotic – but through sheer hard work, people like you and me transform what was impossible into what is possible,” Shakeel Syed, the Executive Director of the Islamic Shura Council, told the crowd gathered at The Jewish Federation Goldsmith Center in Los Angeles. “Now is the time to end hunger.”

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Andrea Sonnenberg (right), board member of the Para Los Ninos Charter School and Jewish Federation member, taught Para Los Ninos 4th graders about Sukkot in preparation for the Fed Up With Hunger Cross-Cultural Sukkah Event tomorrow, 10/8.

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If you missed the Fed Up With Hunger unofficial kick-off last week, you missed a one-of-a-kind event. More than 570 people helped ring in 5770 at Hidden Melodies Revealed, featuring The Sway Machinery. According to our good pals over at JDub Records, who organized and produced the concert, it was “the wildest and most exuberant Rosh Hashanah celebration the west coast has experienced.”

We were on hand to pass out Fed Up With Hunger bags, and get the crowd (an amazingly diverse bunch in terms of age and ethnicity), psyched up about eradicating hunger in L.A. If you missed the event, or just want to relive it, be sure to check out our video below. And then head over to GiveLifeMeaning.org and check out another new video, featuring music by The Beastie Boys.

The Fed Up With Hunger bags were seen by more than 100,000 people over the High Holidays.

We had a blast last night at our unofficial Fed Up With Hunger kick-off @JDUB’s Hidden Melodies event. The gig featured the soulful sounds of The Sway Machinery, rocking the roof off Wilshire Blvd Temple.

We’ll post a vid of the evening soon — in the meantime, check out The Sway Machinery over on jdubrecords.org.

Join us this Thursday, September 17, for JDub’s kickoff event to Rosh Hashanah: Hidden Melodies Revealed by The Sway Machinery. Part ritual, part rock concert – it’s sure to be a feel-good time. Best of all, it’s FREE!

JFedLA will be there raising awareness for Fed Up With Hunger, the community-wide initiative to end hunger in Los Angeles. We’ll be handing out new Fed Up reusable shopping bags, which are so sleek, they’ll even accessorize a suit! Make sure you get one.

Details

Thursday, September 17th, 2009
The Historic Piness Auditorium
Wilshire Boulevard Temple
3663 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, 90010

Schedule

8:00PM Open bar reception, including wines from Wente Vineyards, will be held in the courtyard of the temple.
9:00PM Show
Free Admission!
Free Parking on a first come, first serve basis + Pay lot across the street from the temple.

RSVP Info

Email your full name and # in your party to info@jdubrecords.org, with LA HMR in the subject line.

A twenty-fifth anniversary screening of the Bill Murray classic Ghostbusters will be held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to benefit the Federation’s Fed Up With Hunger initiative.

Details

Sunday, October 11th
Gates open at 6:00 pm
Movie starts at 7:30 pm
Admission = 5 cans of food per person

6000 Santa Monica Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90038
Street parking is available

Get together some friends and a picnic dinner (alcohol is okay), spread out on the cemetery lawn, and join the movement to end hunger in Los Angeles. Low-seating folding chairs (no tall chairs) and blankets are a good idea, too. Reservations are not required, but seating is first come – first serve, so be sure to get there early as the best spots fill up fast!