Month: August 2024

Doing good and giving back are not just catch phrases for us — they’re core to who we are. Recently, we spoke with Los Angeles-based teammate Renu Mevasse, who’s making an impact fighting hunger in her community through her commitment to her local food bank.

How long have you been involved with Westside Food Bank, and what motivates you to continue volunteering with them?   

I have been volunteering with Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District x Westside Food Bank through the Weekend Bag Program for the past 10 years and recently started volunteering directly with the Westside Food Bank this year. 

I continue to volunteer with them because I see the direct impact the program makes to the kids and families in our community. Each week during the school year, SMMUSD x Westside Food Bank provides food to families, especially on the weekends, to help supplement nutritional gaps. And during the summer, the food bank continues to support these families when school is not in session.

What impact have you seen from the food bank’s efforts in the community, and how do you feel being part of this initiative? 

Did you know that 1 in 5 American children is food insecure? While almost 30 million students in the U.S. receive free or reduced-priced meals during the school year, when school lets out for summer break, millions of these kids go hungry. In Los Angeles County specifically, that equates to 1 in 4 households with kids.  Westside Food Bank serves LA county, so I believe that our collective efforts help in some small way. 

Can you share a memorable experience from your volunteering efforts?  

In June, I volunteered with fellow LA-based Clorox teammates to pack meal kits for kids. School-provided meal programs are often the only consistent source of nutrition for students, so summer is a critical time for food insecurity. We stepped away from our desks for a few hours and packed more than 250 meal kits. As a bonus, it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better!

How has your experience on The Clorox Company Foundation board of trustees influenced your approach to community service? 

I joined the board of trustees because I believe in the mission and giving back to our communities, especially in smaller and more personal ways. Being involved in my community brings a greater purpose and balance to my life. I also love being on the board because it gives me a better appreciation for all the ways each one of us can give back.

How do you balance your volunteer work with your professional responsibilities? 

I am passionate about helping families (especially children) overcome food insecurity, but with a busy work and family life, I wanted a consistent opportunity that I could stick with. The great thing about SMMUSD and the Westside Food Bank is that I can volunteer for an hour a week delivering weekend food bags to the different schools while on my way to and from picking up my own kids. Or I can take advantage of Summer Fridays and take a half day to volunteer with friends, family or coworkers. The key to volunteering is to find something that you are passionate about and then take one small action. Sometimes that’s all the time you have. But even that small action can make a big impact in someone else’s life!

In South Central Los Angeles, 26.5% of the population lives below the poverty line—a figure that is more than double the national average of 12.5%. To help alleviate some of the economic hardship that the community is facing, AEG’s LA Galaxy, in partnership with Herbalife, hosted a back-to-school event and a community health and resource fair at A Place Called Home on August 2, 2024, for 1,000 underserved students as they prepare for the upcoming academic year.

Several LA Galaxy players including Edwin Cerrillo, John McCarthy, Mauricio Cuevas, Tucker Lepley, Isaiah Parente, and Jalen Neal, helped distribute backpacks filled with essential school supplies, including pencils, crayons, rulers, notebooks, calculators, and pens. Additionally, along with the players, Joe Tutino, sports broadcaster of the LA Galaxy, and LA Galaxy General Manager Will Kuntz were on hand to meet the families and play pep rally games.

The event also included a Community Health and Resource Fair that provided students and their families with vital services including on-site optometry screenings, vaccinations, and on-site daycare, as well as information about job opportunities, housing resources, city services, and school readiness programs.

“For many families, the financial burden of getting kids ready to go back to school purchasing school essentials can be overwhelming,” said Felicia Hano, Community Relations Coordinator at the LA Galaxy. “By providing these resources, the event not only eases that burden but also ensures that students are prepared and confident as they start the school year.”

A Place Called Home inspires, encourages, and supports the young people in South Los Angeles to achieve social, emotional, and economic success. Since its founding in 1993, A Place Called Home has directly served more than 20,000 youth members through its core school day, after-school and summer programming, and over 150,000 residents through family and supportive services including food, clothing, and holiday toy distributions, counseling, voter education, and community organizing. For more information, visit apch.org.

Herbalife is a premier health and wellness company and community that has been changing people’s lives with great nutrition products and a business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers science-backed products to consumers in more than 90 markets through entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle to live their best life. For more information, please visit Herbalife.com and follow on Instagram @HerbalifeUSA.

The LA Galaxy is Major League Soccer’s most successful club. Based in Carson, Calif. at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Galaxy have won the MLS Cup a record five times (2002, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014), the MLS Supporters’ Shield four times (1998, 2002, 2010, 2011) and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup twice (2001, 2005), and one Concacaf Champions Cup (2000) since their inception in 1996. Under the direction of LA Galaxy President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer Tom Braun on the business operations side and LA Galaxy Head Coach and Sporting Director Greg Vanney on the soccer operations side, the Galaxy are the premier club in MLS, with stars like Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Riqui Puig, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Javier Hernandez and Cobi Jones representing LA over the team’s 27 years in MLS. For more information on the LA Galaxy, visit www.lagalaxy.com.