Learn what's needed next to make our cities more bike friendly, and find out how you can be part of the solution!

EVENT DETAILS:

Saturday, May 26th
Hosted at The Lineage Performing Arts Center
89 S. Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91107

7:30 - 8:15pm Registration and Open House with free information from LACBC, C.I.C.L.E., Bike San Gabriel Valley, City of Pasadena and more...
Book signing with Gil Garcetti and Ed Begley, Jr.
8:15 - 9:15pm Exclusive (it) Magazine Video Screening followed by panel discussion
9:15 - 10:00pm Networking mixer: Join us for a glass of wine, light snacks and chat with like-minded bike enthusiasts!

RSVP HERE TODAY!

A CASE FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. His award winning documentary film, "Including Samuel," chronicles the Habib family's efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family's hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Currently airing on Public TV nationwide, "Including Samuel" is his very personal effort to inspire the public -- especially anyone connected to education -- to talk about inclusion in a more informed and innovative way. Here he shares his story, his passion and a wealth of resources with (it) magazine.

Four years ago, my son, Samuel, lay in a medically induced coma. He was four years old and had developed pneumonia from complications following a tonsillectomy surgery. As I waited by his bedside, one of his doctors, Dr. James Filiano, encouraged me to photograph the experience, perhaps as a way of managing my fear. It was the moment that I began to move towards filmmaking, a new direction for me both professionally and personally.

I began working on Including Samuel, a 58-minute documentary that was released nationally late last year. As a director and as a father, my experience with making the film not only helped me face my fears, but also my biases. The project became my outlet for processing this new reality in our lives. We had a child with a disability.

When Samuel was about one, we found out that he had cerebral palsy, which means his brain has trouble controlling his muscles. He uses a wheelchair and it is difficult for him to talk.

My wife Betsy and I would stay up at night, comparing notes: What did Samuel do better that day? What did he do worse? We weren't new parents; we had an older son, Isaiah, then four, but our youngest child's disability tested us in new ways.

"How can he get a full education and go to college when he can't hold a pencil?" Betsy wondered aloud.

I made Including Samuel to chronicle our family's efforts to include him in our neighborhood school, in the sports programs and social activities intrinsic to our community, in the daily routines of our family -- every aspect of our lives. Samuel's journey is the central thread through the film, and I wanted viewers to learn a lot about him beyond the fact that he has a disability:

He wrestles with his brother. He loves t-ball. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Yet Samuel is only nine, and including him will likely become more and more challenging as he grows up. So I also made this film to learn from the experiences of other people with disabilities who can look back on the choices they and their parents have made, and to see how these choices have shaped their lives.

Including Samuel also documents the experiences of four other subjects: Keith Jones, Alana Malfy, Nathaniel Orellana, and Emily Huff, along with their families, educators, other students and their communities as a whole.

ECHOES OF A PAST STORY
This tale began 20 years ago when, as a newbie staff photographer with the Concord (NH) Monitor, I photographed a story at one of the first local elementary schools to include kids with disabilities in mainstream classes. I cared about the topic, but it didn't have much personal relevance to me at the time.

Today, Samuel is in fourth grade at this school, Beaver Meadow, and I think about inclusion every day.

Being Samuel's dad has forced me to look at my own prejudices. When I saw people who couldn't walk or talk, what crept into my head? It's painful to admit, but I often saw them as less smart, less capable, and not worth getting to know. Now I wonder Is that how the world sees Samuel?

Betsy and I decided to attend the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability Leadership Series to learn how we could be more effective advocates for Samuel. We heard from disability rights leaders such as Norman Kunc, who spoke about his right to be disabled. Norman said that if he were offered a pill to cure his cerebral palsy, he wouldn't take it.

"I would have to start my identity all over again," he said. "I like who I am, I like the work I do."

The Leadership Series helped us to see Samuel's disability as an intrinsic part of who he is.

GETTING TO INCLUSION
As a father, I wanted to show the general public why I felt so strongly that inclusion is the most important factor to giving Samuel and other children with disabilities the opportunity for a happy and fulfilling life. As a journalist, I didn't want to sugarcoat the issue. I wanted the film to be as complex as the reality of successful inclusion.

I also hope they will get to know Samuel at the same time.

Making this film helped me envision the life we want and expect for Samuel. We have a supportive network of teachers, therapists, relatives and friends who help us work towards that goal every day. And there is Samuel himself whose smile and persistence make clear his own vision of happiness.

Samuel brought the disability rights movement into our home. It came with lots of questions: Can we continue to fully include Samuel as he goes to middle and high school? What about the times when illnesses force Samuel to miss weeks or months of school? As an adult, will he find a mate? Will he get a job that he likes?

I don't know the answers to those questions right now. But I do know that Samuel loves life. He loves to laugh and he loves the Red Sox. He's determined to keep up with his brother, and to be a part of everything that we do.

I know that he will teach a lot of people, which is good because the world has a lot to learn.

###

Dan speaks with us about finding (it) for him:

(it): How did you find your passion and turn your particular life situation into national work on this issue?

DH: My parents are activists. They modeled that through their work (my dad is a retired professor and my mom a retired social worker) and through their activism (I probably went to 4 major rallies in D.C. before I was 13). They passed on their values to their 3 children: primarily a belief that we are here to make a difference in this world. Making "Including Samuel" is consistent with what I've tried to do my whole career: take a complex -- and often controversial -- issue, and try to tell the story in a way that is a catalyst for informed discussion. Often, that leads to social change. In the past, I didn't care so much where the discussion led -- my passion was providing our readers with a more in-depth perspective through my journalism.

"Including Samuel" is a far more personal project than I had ever done before. As a photojournalist, I had always pointed the camera at other people. Documenting my own family's story was different. As I launched this project in 2008, I felt so strongly about inclusion that I left journalism and became an advocate as well as a documentarian. I couldn't be an advocate while in journalism, and didn't aspire to become one. It was when this issue hit me so personally that I realized it was ok to tell people how I felt as a father, and where I hope the world evolves in terms of disability rights and inclusion.

(it): Who are your influences, heroes or mentors?

DH: When I was a teenager I fell in love with photography. I'd get home after going out with high school friends and set up my tripod and take pictures of the night sky, or cars streaking past snow banks with long exposure photographs. I lived near NYC and I'd take the bus in and go from one photo gallery to another. The 57th Street galleries and the International Center of Photography were my places of worship. Work by great photographers filled the walls -- Andre Kertsz, Susan Meiseles, Bruce Davidson, Josef Koudelka -- there were dozens and dozens of exhibits every time I went to the city and I lapped it all up. I'd save my money to buy photo book after photo book and pour over them for hours.

In 1992 I took a course at the Maine Photo Workshop with Eugene Richards that changed the direction of my career, and led me to pursue longer documentary projects. Richards was an important mentor, as was the incredibly talented photographer Pat Garrett. John Kaplan, a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist who won when he was just a few years out of college, took me under his wing when I was at University of Michigan studying Political Science. He's become a close friend.

As I've gotten older my heroes are not photographers now as much as they are great documentarians, activists and change agents: Studs Terkel. Martin Luther King. Helen Keller. Lincoln. Rosa Parks. FDR. Obama. The many, many great disability rights leaders working right now for change. And it may sound corny, but my wife and two boys inspire me more than anyone else living or dead.

- (it) -

CALL TO ACTION! Learn more about inclusion and how you can find ways to support disability rights by going to www.includingsamuel.com or go to the Make It Happen page now for easy action steps and informative resources.

Dan Habib directed, produced and shot the award-winning "Including Samuel". Habib is the filmmaker in residence at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. Until April 2008, he was the photography editor of the Concord Monitor. In 2006 he was named national Photography Editor of the Year for papers with circulations of 100,000 or less. His freelance work, including extensive documentary work in China, has appeared in numerous publications, including Time, Newsweek and The New York Times. He and his family live in Concord, NH.

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Two years after an historic fundraising telecast and the start of a ground-breaking grassroots movement, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) returned to primetime television on September 10, 2010 with a star-studded appeal to build continuing public support and donations for cutting-edge cancer research that translates at a rapid pace from the laboratory to treatments and technologies that benefit patients.

This year's telecast featured live performances of legendary recording artists and stars from film, television and sports who presented content providing viewers with insights into cancer. Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer and Brian Williams co-hosted the telecast with HBO, Discovery Health, E!, MLB Network and other networks and cable channels joining the effort. One hundred percent of all public donations made during the telecast will go directly to cancer research.

While many breakthroughs are occurring, a more concerted effort to share new knowledge and combine research efforts could mean even faster and more effective results, saving the life of a loved one. Find out more about Stand Up 2 Cancer's new model for innovation, interdisciplinary idea-sharing and funding by reading more here and going to www.su2c.org.

Stand Up 2 Cancer's Mission Statement:

Here we stand, on the verge of unlocking the answers that will finally conquer the devastation that is cancer.

We now understand the very biology that drives cancer. With knowledge gained from the mapping of the human genome, we can now target the genes and pathways that are involved in turning normal cells into cancerous ones. We are on the brink of possessing a toolbox full of new, advanced technologies just waiting to be adapted to benefit patients. Right before us, so close we can almost touch them, are scientific breakthroughs in the prevention, detection, treatment and even reversal of this disease.

Cancer takes one person every minute. One life in a moment. They are our brothers, our sisters, our fathers and mothers, our husbands and wives, our best friends, our children, ourselves. Every day in America, 1500 people die and yet the means to save them are literally within our reach. To wait any longer for someone else to save our lives and the lives of those we love is unforgivable.

Inspired to act by our own personal experiences with cancer, we recognize that we can no longer rely on the current system alone to give us the breakthroughs we need. So, we are calling on the public to help take matters into our own hands, investing in a revolution that will change the way scientist and clinicians work to understand and treat these diseases. Stand Up To Cancer is more than a rallying cry. It is a galvanizing force created to urgently move cancer research forward.

This is where the end of cancer begins: when we unite in one unstoppable movement and Stand Up To Cancer.

Working with the top experts in cancer research, Stand Up To Cancer is forging a new way to develop breakthroughs that will end cancer. We're putting together the best and the brightest minds in cancer research those on the edge of accomplishment investing in their projects and taking the bureaucratic obstacles out of their way. We are building interdisciplinary Dream Teams of scientists, clinicians, technicians and other experts, who will focus on a specific cancer problem. We'll track their progress in real time, so that everyone who invests can see how their participation is creating real change.

YOU CAN INVEST IN SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND THE END OF CANCER! Donate Here

Dr. Jerome Groopman, M.D., explains SU2C's NEW SCRIPT FOR CANCER RESEARCH:

"Successful experiments are built on a vision of the future and overcome the pitfalls of the past. "Stand Up to Cancer" promises to be such an experiment - ambitious in aim, grand in scale, and smart in design. It is an experiment that will involve not only laboratory scientists and clinicians, but potentially every American....

BUILDING FOR THE COMMUNITY

In collaboration with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, Music for Relief is helping to fund and build a house in Lynwood for a deserving family in need. The home will be built to LEED specifications and will encompass a number of environmentally savvy features and green building techniques. While green building practices can add to the initial cost of construction, these costs are not passed on to the new homeowner, so there is no extra financial burden for them now, but does provide energy savings for them in the future! This very noble and conscientious project requires your help. What can you do? MFR has a special site set up and is asking every individual to donate just $5 to this cause. Check out the site, you can learn what your donation goes towards -- buy a box of nails, a light fixture or the kitchen sink! As of this writing, they have raised $36,551 of the $150,000 needed for the project, or 24%. This is an excellent project that will not only help a family in need but also help forward sustainable building practices for this type of housing.

[MF_150] On January 14th, (it) Magazine was there for MFR and Habitat's Green Home Build Day. It was a fantastic experience for our staff and we were able to work with a number of amazing individuals who gave up a day to help a family in need. Members of Linkin Park took time from their busy schedule to come out as well, and were swinging hammers with the rest of us! We were able to put up a large amount of siding on the houses and help finish off framework on the second story. During the build, we were blessed to meet Betty Monroy, a mother of three who recently worked with Habitat volunteers to build her own new home. Mrs. Monroy was on site at the new green home to tell us about the impact that her home had on her family and quality of life. It was amazing to meet someone who had their life directly changed by the efforts of organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Needless to say, this was a very moving and overall extraordinary day. Thank you to everyone who made it out for the build! Just remember, the work there is not complete -- MFR and Habitat need your help. Donate or volunteer today!

To make your $5 contribution go to www.musicforrelief.org/habitat or text HOUSE to 90999.

P.S. No one said you have to donate JUST $5 :)

Founded by the band Linkin Park, Music for Relief is a non-profit organization dedicated to help with disaster relief and mitigation, and we all know there are many areas in need and much work to be done.

The oil leak in the Gulf Coast that began following a deep water oil rig explosion on April 20th is still occurring. As the oil slick reaches the coastal wetlands, fragile ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them are in danger. In partnership with Voice of the Wetland and For the Bayou, Music for Relief is supporting the important humanitarian and environmental assistance that is needed in coastal Louisiana now and for the years to come to restore and protect our critical wetlands. Visit the Voice of the Wetlands (VOW) or For the Bayou websites to make a donation, or support Music for Relief and VOW's Send Dirt campaign by texting DIRT to 90999 and make a $5 contribution via your mobile phone. Or if you would like to volunteer with the oil spill cleanup, find opportunities to do so here.

Following the Southern CA wildfires in 2007 Music For Relief made a donation of $50,000 to Direct Relief International that was matched by SanDisk to help victims of the wildfires. Major League Baseball donated $25,000 to the organization last year. MFR also sponsors numerous tree planting projects all over the world and organizes environmental campaigns that help individuals recycle, conserve energy, and lower their carbon footprint. $1 per ticket from Linkin Park's China concerts in 2009 were donated to the Million Tree Project to help reforest the Inner Mongolian Desert. This is a fantastic organization that has done wonderful things for the world and around the world -- get involved!

WHY IS MUSIC FOR RELIEF IMPORTANT?

Take a look at their list of accomplishments over the past five years:
> They have raised over $3,500,000 in donations for their causes;
> In 2008, over 95% of the funds raised went directly to disaster relief and environmental programs; only 4.7% of those funds were used for administrative and fundraising purposes;
> Music for Relief has planted over 810,000 trees worldwide to sequester more than 270,000 tons of CO2;
> Not only do they do their part to help the environment, they have created environmental programs that educate people in reducing their carbon footprint.

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You're seven. You're on the playground, playing tag.

"Tag! You're out!!"

"You didn't touch me, I'm not out!"

"Yes I did too! You're out."

You know how the rest goes. There is an argument, perhaps a push or a shove, perhaps tears, teacher mediation, teacher frustration, finally a visit to the one-and-only Principal's Office.

This situation is not uncommon on playgrounds across America. Recess has been referred to as "horror time" by some teachers, a half hour of complete chaos characterized by fighting, wrestling, punching, screaming, and madness. In fact, this allotted time has become so unmanageable and inefficient that many schools have either had to drastically decrease recess or eliminate it all together. In a Gallup survey, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 89% of discipline-related problems happen during recess and lunch; 77% of principals report using taking away recess as a punishment for kids. As a result of these issues and poor academic performance, one fifth of those surveyed have had to reduce or do away with the recess time altogether.

However, poor academic performance, behavioral problems, and health issues are all related. Recess and play in general have been proven to be critical to a child's social and academic development during those elementary years. Most principals have said that students are more focused and more attentive after having recess.

Jill Vialet knows play: Play is her (it) Factor. Since she graduated from Harvard University, she has been engaged with different aspects of play and physical activity in the context of public service. Before founding Playworks, Jill spent her time running a collegiate public service program, coaching soccer in Cambridge, being a camp counselor, and teaching Eskimo children how to swim in Alaska. For Jill, play is a precious commodity, one which she has spent the last 45 years trying to share with others.

Jill's vision is simple, and her execution is brilliant. Through her organization Playworks, Jill believes that one day, every child in America will have access to safe, healthy play, every day. Playworks creates a structured recess experience for elementary school-aged children by establishing trained, full-time young adults as coaches on campuses. Through basic sports and cooperative games, these coaches create an environment which fosters sportsmanship, health and fitness awareness, focus, and fun.

EFFORT
As of this fall, Playworks will be operating in 250 low-income schools across 15 cities in the United States, with a goal of increasing those numbers to 650 schools across 27 cities by 2012. The road to this success and scale, however, was not always a "walk in the playground," so-to-speak, and has been a journey that has required enormous passion and drive on behalf of its founder and her staff. "There was a point where I really didn't know which way I was going to go. And it was super hard...But I really do believe that you have to maintain a sense of humor and be humble and recognize that this is your one chance to make a difference."

STRENGTH
Jill believes that change in the world depends on unreasonable people, and she identifies her 120 AmeriCorps staff coaches as being the most unreasonable of all. She says, "Playworks has grown over the years not because of my unreasonableness, but because the young adults who come to work for us go out into the playgrounds and they, through the power of play, discover themselves as changemakers."

Jill's "Changemaker" mindset has allowed Playworks to expand nationwide and led her to be elected as an Ashoka Fellow. Her social entrepreneur was present long before Ashoka, however. She recalls being told by her high school basketball coach to always bend her knees. Since high school, she has continued to live life with "bent knees" because it means she will have to lead with her legs, which are the strongest parts of the human body. "Creating the preconditions that compel you to lead with your strength is a huge part of the battle. It's setting yourself up to do what you do best and remain super focused."

ENDORPHINS
The reason Playworks does indeed work is because it utilizes a bottom-up approach. Jamila Hornesby, a Playworks coach, commented that the kids "don't need someone saying 'Don't do this, and don't do that.' They need someone saying, 'This is how we're going to play the game today.'" Playworks gives kids this structure and gives them the opportunity to play in a fun and functional way. Recess, when managed effectively, puts children into what Jill Vialet calls "The Play State." Because they are doing something different and exciting during a physical activity, their heart rate will go up, releasing endorphins into their body, resulting in happy and energetic children who are more likely to engage and participate in the classroom. However, when an educator revokes a child's right to recess, she only limits that child's ability to focus and succeed academically and socially. Indeed, in the Play State, kids are more aware and more engaged, both on the playground and in the classroom. This flexibility, spontaneity, creativity and improvisation that recess can include is where brilliance really comes from, claims Jill.

FAIR PLAY
Remember that seven-year-old playground spat during a game of Tag? Imagine if you had thought about solving that through a simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Playworks has ingeniously utilized this super problem solver, which gives kids the ability to learn leadership skills, conflict resolution, and social skills with students of different age groups.

TEAMWORK
Playworks is designed to foster positive relationships between classmates on the playground. Not only are Playworks staff engaged with the kids in cooperative experiences, but the Junior Coaches Program has been created to give older students, 4th and 5th graders, the opportunity to design and lead recess activities.

Playworks could not exist without the team of AmeriCorps members which make up the majority of the staff. AmeriCorps, which is, essentially, a domestic Peace Corps, allows graduating college students the opportunity to give 1700 hours of service to an organization for one year in exchange for a living wage stipend and an education award to be used towards tuition or other academic expenses.

Thanks to the success of the Playworks recess programs and the hard work of the AmeriCorps volunteers and other staff, Jill Vialet and her team are now collaborating with the White House Office of Social Innovation, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services to increase the scale of impact on the climate of schools throughout the nation.

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Get more information about current projects and learn how you can volunteer at upcoming MFR events here. Or, read more from (it) magazine about MFR's green home build in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles and get involved today!

About Music for Relief: Founded by two-time Grammy winning and multi-platinum rock band Linkin Park, Music for Relief is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to victims of natural disasters and the prevention of such disasters. Since its inception in 2005, Music for Relief has raised over $4 million for victims of multiple disasters across four continents including the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, wildfires in Southern California & Victoria Australia, China's Wenchuan earthquake, a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, and the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. Music for Relief also supports environmental programs to help in prevention and mitigation of future natural disasters such as the Send Dirt campaign for wetlands protection and restoration and the Million Tree Project in China's Inner Mongolia Desert. MFR has planted over 810,000 trees to help reduce global warming. For more information on these programs and Music for Relief, CLICK HERE.

A leader in corporate responsibility since 1992,

Dowser: What critical or urgent problems are you trying to address as the head of BSR?

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What's the difference between creativity and art?

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Imani Needs a Marrow Match

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Contributed by Kitten Rescue

Unwanted, abandoned, lost, and feral cats are too often taken to or picked up by shelters. While a few are adopted or retrieved by their owners, the vast majority are euthanized. In Los Angeles County the number of animals killed per year is over 100,000! These are not just sick and injured animals, this figure also includes adoptable kittens and healthy cats -- all that could have been given another chance at a life. This is where Kitten Rescue and other like-minded humane organizations come in to help.

NEW HOMES AND LOVING CARE
Kitten Rescue is one of the largest and most respected animal welfare groups in Los Angeles. Our mission is to rescue and find new loving homes for unwanted cats and kittens. Kitten Rescue showcases adoptable kittens and cats on their website, at permanent adoption installations (PETCOand PetSmart), at Sanctuary open houses, and during adoption events. For those less adoptable cats, Kitten Rescue provides them with the necessary care and love -- allowing them to live out their lives comfortably and safely.

Founded in 1997, Kitten Rescue is a non-profit, volunteer run organization that places over 1000 cats and kittens into new homes each year! In 2006, Kitten Rescue acquired a private, no-kill shelter that has become the Kitten Rescue Sanctuary. The Sanctuary can house approximately 150 cats at a time. Our other cats are either housed throughout Los Angeles County with Kitten Rescue foster parents or at permanent adoption installations at several PETCO and PetSmart stores across Los Angeles and surrounding areas. At these stores, Kitten Rescue cats are housed in enclosures allowing them to be viewed by shoppers and considered for adoption during all open store hours. Kitten Rescue provides all the care for these animals through the help of our volunteers with the stores providing us the space and opportunity. These cats are generally rotated once a month.

Kitten Rescue also has a boarding facility that offers quality care for your cat(s) while you are away. Our caring staff and volunteers provide our cat clients with all the love, attention, care, and service they could ever need along with roomy accommodations. Equally important, the proceeds from Kitten Rescue Boarding go to support the care of Kitten Rescue cats.

Kitten Rescue takes cat care very seriously. Cats rescued by Kitten Rescue have all of their medical needs addressed, and prior to adoption, every cat is spayed/neutered, tested for leukemia and FIV, vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas, and microchipped. We do not shy away from those that require special needs: mom cats with litters, kittens that need to be bottle fed, cats that need socialization, and sick/injured animals -- all are welcome at Kitten Rescue! We also rescue dogs in special circumstances and provide them the same level of service and love that we do to our kittens and cats.

As you can imagine, it takes quite a budget -- well over $300,000 a year -- to keep Kitten Rescue running and able to provide all that we do for the kittens and cats of Los Angeles. We are fortunate to have a number of regular donors (with new donors every day), generous sponsors, successful donation events, and the funding we receive through our boarding facility. However, this all isn't enough nor does it allow us to expand. Therefore we also have an annual fundraising event, Kitten Rescue's Fur Ball at the Skirball. This annual event started in 2008 and has continued to be a great success -- thanks in part to the event's host, longtime Kitten Rescue supporter and former volunteer, Jenna Fischer (of "The Office"). The event regularly features fantastic entertainment, a silent auction with amazing items, fun themed cocktails, and a delicious vegetarian dinner. To see pictures from past events, please click here.

These tough economic times have been hard on so many, and a number of families have had to turn over their pets when times turned bad. Kitten Rescue has taken in a record number of pets from families who could no longer support their pet or when living arrangements became uncertain. This has only added to the already large problem of abandoned kittens and cats. So, now more than ever, Kitten Rescue needs donations, support, volunteers, etc. Please visit our site or look below to see how you can help today!

Adopt from Kitten Rescue
If you have a suitable home for a kitten or cat and want to welcome in a wonderful new companion, please consider adopting from Kitten Rescue. View available kittens and cats via the Kitten Rescue website, by visiting any of the regular Kitten Rescue adoption events (upcoming events can be found here), or arrange a visit to the Kitten Rescue Sanctuary.

And don't be fooled by the name, Kitten Rescue also rescues and finds homes for dogs. If the companion you desire is of the canine variety, please visit Kitten Rescue's dog adoption page by clicking here.

Donate to Kitten Rescue
Whether you call Los Angeles home or you're from across the country or the world, you still have the power to touch the lives of the many deserving, wonderful animals in our care. There are many ways you can help, and every dollar means so much. The kitties thank you! To make a donation, click here.

Also, if you have goods or services that you think would make for a fantastic silent auction item for Kitten Rescue's annual Fur Ball at the Skirball, please contact our auction committee at Auction@KittenRescue.org

Sponsor a Kitten or Cat at Kitten Rescue
Kitten Rescue's Sponsorship Program raises money for Kitten Rescue by connecting cats housed in our sanctuary with cat lovers like you! The best part is you can be a sponsor from anywhere across the globe. The Kitten Rescue sanctuary is home to approximately 150 cats at any given time. Many of these cats require special medical attention, are not socialized, or are unlikely to be adopted for a number of other reasons. These cats live out their lives at the sanctuary, if necessary, and we are dedicated to providing them necessary and loving care. In the Kitten Rescue Sponsorship Program, donors sponsor a sanctuary cat to help cover the costs of caring for these cats and the sanctuary they live in. If you are interested in sponsoring a Kitten Rescue cat, please click here.

Volunteer with Kitten Rescue
While Kitten Rescue is fortunate to have a number of fabulous volunteers, we are always looking for more. If you are interested, there are many ways you can get involved! Even if you only have an hour a week to help out, that's okay, we always are happy to have the help. If you are interested in volunteering, please click here.

Foster a Kitten or Cat from Kitten Rescue
Since we only have space for about 150 cats at the Sanctuary, Kitten Rescue always has an urgent need for foster parents. Fostering is a richly rewarding experience because when you take in one or more foster cats, you are personally responsible for saving their lives. Whether you can care for one cat or many, once or frequently, we would love for you to become a Foster Parent at whatever level of commitment you choose. Plus we offer training, guidance, and lots of moral support. To complete a foster application, click here.

Board Your Cat at KR
Kitten Rescue offers boarding services and uses the proceeds from its boarding facility to help support the rescue and care for the Kitten Rescue kittens and cats. We provide roomy accommodations and outstanding care and attention delivered by our knowledgeable and compassionate staff and volunteers. To learn more about Kitten Rescue Boarding, please click here. By boarding your cats with us, even your cats can help homeless cats!

What do musicians Katy Perry, Sir Paul McCartney, and Dave Grohl have in common? What about actors George Clooney, Samuel L Jackson, and Hillary Duff? Sure they're all artists in their respective fields of expertise, but they are also some of more than 600 of today's influencers who have donated original artwork to Whatever It Takes, an artwork campaign started by 21st Century Leaders Foundation.

The signed artwork is donated to Whatever It Takes for exclusive use and is applied to all kinds of products -- from clocks and t-shirts to bags and plates. These products are then sold through over 4000 retailers around the world, including Macy's, Bloomingdales and Harrods to raise funds for a variety of causes which focus on global development; things like poverty alleviation, the protection of children andenvironmental conservation. Consistent with their causes, all of their products are developed and created in line with the charity's ethical and environmental policies. And if you thought it couldn't get any better -- you can even shop without leaving your couch. A simple click on http://shop.whateverittakes.org will take you straight to their online store. (Tip: Don't miss the bed linens featuring Joss Stone's artwork or Nicole Kidman's alarm clock!)

Whatever It Takes has already raised over $3,000,000 for charity. And 21st Century Leaders Foundation seems to be successfully fulfilling it's mission to assist and encourage a generation of influencers...to raise awareness and funds for international development causes, thereby leading the way in promoting positive environmental and sustainable human development solutions.

To learn more, visit: http://www.whateverittakes.org and be sure to Like them on Facebook!

History shows there are ways to prevent drought from becoming famine. Of course it's complex, and solutions are difficult -- especially in Somalia where there has not been a formal government for 20 years. But that is not an excuse for the world to look the other way. More than 30,000 children have died in just three months. Thirty thousand.

ONE.org released this provocative PSA bringing together stars from entertainment, media and politics as part of a broad global campaign to raise awareness and press world leaders to act.

"I've been known to drop the occasional expletive, but the most offensive F word to me is not the one that goes f***. It's F***** -- the famine happening in Somalia," says Bono, One.org's Co-Founder. The campaign will be driven by top-level political lobbying around the globe, collaboration with more than 50 leading African artists, musicians and business people, grassroots organizing across the U.S., social media campaigning, cutting edge creative media products, and a petition to world leaders that seeks to recruit 500,000 signatories. For more information on ONE's campaign on famine and agriculture development go to www.one.org/actnow.

One.org also provides a deeper explanation of successful solutions addressing a wide range of issues affecting global poverty -- from maternal health, education, and agriculture to aid effectiveness, governance and security. You'll find valuable information to share and activate others, and ways you can get involved by calling on world leaders to live up to the promises already made to invest in programs that have been proven to work.

ONE's new PSA The F Word:Famine is the Real Obscenity isn't a typical emotional emergency appeal. It's about focusing the media spotlight on the tragedy unfolding. It's about building political support in the US and around the world for interventions that will stop the suffering today and break the cycle of famine in the future. Most of all, it's about taking action -- because famine is man-made. Learn more and sign ONE's petition today.

BONUS: Download the ONE App that might just change the world -- GET THE FACTS, STAY CONNECTED and CREATE CHANGE in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Now available for the iphone, with other smart phone apps rolling out soon.

ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. Co-founded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African activists and policy makers.