Volunteer in Lake Forest

The other day I ran into a friend who recently retired and was looking for some constructive ways to spend his new-found free time. In Lake Forest there are many nonprofits that can use your help. Some of the ones I’m most familiar with include –

• Kiwanis - Focus on Children
• Soroptimists - Focus on women and girls
• Relay for Life - Focus on cancer
• Women’s Club (Lake 2) - Focus on helping nonprofits in Lake Forest
• Modjeska Playhouse – Focus on community theatre
• Healing Odyssey – Focus on cancer treatment
• Reptile Rescue of OC – Focus on reptiles
• OC Birds of Prey Center – Focus on birds of prey
• The Little Red Dog Rescue – what it says.
• Pet Adoption Center – what it says.
• Paws Rescue – Focus on pet adoption

Serving Lake Forest but not headquartered in our City are –

• Breast Cancer Solutions - Focus on cancer
• South County Outreach – Food and services for people with low incomes (Irvine)
• Families Forward – Broad range of services for families with low incomes (Irvine)
• Mission Viejo Elks – General charitable foundation (MV)
• New Beginnings – Pet rescue and adoption (Aliso Viejo)
• Dream Animal Rescue - Pet rescue and adoption (MV)

More closely aligned with the City, there are several other groups, including

• Special Needs Committee - Focus on people with special needs
• Animal Welfare Committee - Focus on pets, pet owners, and wild animals
• Parade Committee - Gets the 4th of July Parade in shape (Pictured above with John Irish)
• Senior Advisory Committee - Focus on activities at the city’s senior center
• STARS - Focus on helping the Lake Forest Police with clerical and administrative tasks
• First Responder Grab n'Go - Supports Police with snacks (Pictured above)
• USMC Support Committee - Focus on helping marines and their families who are part of the Law Enforcement Battalion at Camp Pendleton
• Chamber of Commerce – Focus on business owners

If I missed your group, please let me know – GardnerforCouncil@gmail.com

Once per year we honor the men and women who volunteer their time to help make out city better. This year we instituted a Volunteer Leadership Award at our annual luncheon, and the first recipient was John Irish (pictured above) for his work on Kiwanis and the Parade Committee.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Oct 18 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).