Revitalizing the Heart of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, July 18, the National Parks Conservation Association, (NPCA) along with partners and elected officials will host a volunteer day of service in the heart of Los Angeles, at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. The event, created in partnership with the National Park Service and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, is part of NPCA’s inaugural year of its Find Your Voice (#FindYourVoice) initiative, aimed at inspiring people to speak up for America’s favorite places.

Youth and other volunteers at the Los Angeles event will help with planting in the Placita de Dolores Native Garden and participate in other revitalization efforts for the historic Moreton Bay fig trees at Paseo de la Plaza and at the Antonio Aguilar Fountain. Following the service project, volunteers will learn more about their outdoor spaces and opportunities to stay involved in their community, from speakers including Congressman Xavier Becerra, Los Angeles County Supervisor and former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Superintendent David Szymanski, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument Assistant General Manager Lisa Sarno, and NPCA’s Los Angeles Program Manager Dennis Arguelles.

With its rich history, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument is under consideration by the National Park Service to be included in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, through the park’s Rim of the Valley study. NPCA, along with a diverse coalition of partners, supports the opportunity, which could add important natural and cultural areas into the national park site. More than 17 million people live in the greater Los Angeles region, providing an incredible opportunity to connect people to wide-open spaces, waterways, and sites like El Pueblo that tell of the story of Los Angeles’s past.

“As the historic and cultural center of Los Angeles, El Pueblo is a perfect location local youth, veterans, and other volunteers to form a stronger connection to our city’s past, as well as take an active part in its future, by speaking up in supporting adding this and other diverse sites into Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area,” said Dennis Arguelles, Los Angeles Program Manager of NPCA.

The Los Angeles Find Your Voice event is presented by NPCA, the National Park Service, and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument.

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About Find Your Voice : NPCA is encouraging people to become national park visitors, stewards and advocates, especially as our park system enters into its second century in 2016. Participating in these volunteer activities will help provide our national parks a lasting legacy for tomorrow. Read more.

About the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA): Together with our more than one million members and supporters, the National Parks Conservation Association speaks for America’s national parks. Since our founding in 1919, NPCA has been an independent, nonpartisan voice working to strengthen and protect our nation’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage. Learn more at www.npca.org.