2011 North Valley Caring Services Play-A-Thon

[Zachariah Boren]

On 12/11/2011, the Chatsworth Kiwanis and Chatsworth Keyclub volunteered from 8am to 5pm at the North Valley Caring Services for their Hasbro Play-A-Thon to raise money for meal programs.

Participants aged 5-15 years old spent 15 minutes at each of eleven play stations, including games such as Twister, Jenga, Battleship, Pictionary, and Connect Four. Participants were sponsored by friends and family, who sponsored "by the minute" of play or with one donated amount.

Volunteers helped that day by escorting the kids around each playing station, helping with snacks, explaining the rules of each game, game and table setup, and at the sign-in table.

N.V.C.S. Play-A-Thon Photos

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North Valley Caring Services responds quickly to the changing needs of the hard working families that live in North Hills. To that end, the mission of NVCS is to empower neighborhood residents to build a vision of their community’s future and actively engage in solving local problems. Our multifaceted approach promotes self-sufficient individuals and bonded families that learn, grow and work together.

Our programs and services are designed to meet the following goals:

• Enable disadvantaged children and youth to develop physical health and positive self esteem, complete their education, participate in wholesome activities, and transition into stable, thriving adults;
• Ensure parents are able to provide a safe and healthy home environment for their children
• Help homeless and low income neighbors achieve health and alleviate hunger.

North Valley Caring Services began as an outgrowth of the Sepulveda United Methodist Church and has been serving the North Hills area for over 35 years. Originally organized as a breakfast kitchen for the area’s homeless population, NVCS continues to serve all disadvantaged residents via its Breakfast Program and Food Pantry. Expanding our services in 1992, the NVCS campus became a Shalom Zone to advocate, mediate and counsel residents caught in the uproar of the Los Angeles riots. Since then, we have continued to evolve, mature and improve, becoming a 501c.3 organization in 1995. From its humble beginnings as a soup kitchen, the agency has grown to offer an array of programs that help individuals and families succeed in life. Today we are proud to provide a comprehensive Family Literacy Program including Adult ESL Courses, Early Childhood Education, and Parenting Classes; a Youth Program and a Workforce Development program. In addition to these larger programs, NVCS has added further services in response to community requirements, including the Holiday Toy Give-Away, the Thanksgiving Meal, Health Screenings and Referral Services.

We strive to meet the pressing needs of low-income families in our neighborhood.

NVCS serves families and individuals from North Hills, Panorama City, Van Nuys, and Arleta, the majority of participants live in the agency’s Langdon-Orion Street neighborhood of North Hills. These communities are some of the poorest in the San Fernando Valley; the median household income is $33,669 -- which is $10,000 less than the average for Los Angeles County, and $17,000 less than the average for the San Fernando Valley. With approximately 19,000 residents in just 1.5 square miles, our neighborhood is one of the most densely populated in the county of Los Angeles. Many families consist of recent Central and Latin American immigrants who speak little or no English. For many years the neighborhood has been portrayed by police and the media as an example of poverty, neglect, violence, drug trafficking, fractured families and gang rule. The neighborhood has very high rates of substance abuse arrests, child protective services interventions, and school drop outs. Through our programs and services we touch the lives of close to 4,000 individuals each year, enabling them to better their future.