The Boys & Girls Clubs of East Los Angeles has served over 50,000 youth since it was founded in 1950 and provides character development programs on a daily basis conducted by professional staff for children 5-18 years old. The organization offers a wide range of programs that include leadership development, education & career exploration, financial literacy, health & life skills, arts, sports, fitness & recreation as well as family engagement & empowerment programs. Adrian had the opportunity to talk with Anna Araujo, the Executive Director about the programs offered by the organization to serve the needs of the children in the community.
Last month, The Peace Fund took it's Interactive Storytelling Program to two classes of 5 - 7 year old children at the club. We would like to thank Ellen Hollman and Kyle Hebert for volunteering their time to help bring books alive for the students. Adrian talked to them after the event and today we bring you those interviews.
Kyle Hebert was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He was one of the few people who knew what he wanted to be as a youth and actually achieved it. In high school and at the University of North Texas, he was a DJ for the school radio stations. Not long after graduation, he worked his way thru many radio formats and eventually found a home on Disney Radio. Better known as "Squeege" to his radio audience, Kyle entertains his young audience with wacky character voices and crazy antics. This lasted until September 2005, when he moved from Dallas to Los Angeles, to get bigger interests in the world of voice acting. Over the last decade he pursued his other great interest, Voice Acting. At Funimation, he voiced many characters including teenage Gohan of Dragonball-Z fame. This has propelled him into celebrity status in the Anime world with world appearances and web sites devoted to his work.
The Big Bald Broadcast was a geek news podcast founded by Kyle and musician/amateur historian "Otherworld" Steve. Running for 5 years (2005–2010) with 150 episodes, the podcast was centered on anime/tech/movie/geek news from around the internet. From the 100th episode onward the show was broadcast live over Stickam.
Kyle is known for his work Dragon Ball Z, Wreck-It-Ralph, Dragon Ball Super, Star Trek Continues, Lego Friends, One Punch Man and many more.
Born in Michigan, Ellen Hollman was raised by her father Hart Hollman, a violist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and her mother Julie, a master pianist. No stranger to the arts, Ellen spent countless hours in the Opera House and Orchestra Hall surrounding herself with classical brilliance. In her teen years, she decided to pursue a career in the arts herself, and moved to New York City. There, she studied at various acclaimed acting studios and honed in on her craft of choice: bringing to life a versatile array of characters on stage and on the silver screen. In 2004, Ellen moved out to Los Angeles. Within one year of being in LA, she started landing projects.
Aside from acting, Ellen is the CEO of Visual Impact Now, a non-profit based in Los Angeles. Visual Impact Now has served as a fundraising and awareness arm for their partner One Sight, to provide free eye exams and glasses to children and families who are unable to afford it. They have been involved with various high profile events including the Golden Globes Style Lounge, Coachella, Sundance, LA Fashion Week, and more. Their Host Committee Members and supporters have included Zoe Saldana, Chris Pine, Debra Messing, Malin Akerman, Shaun White, January Jones, and Taylor Lautner, to name a few. Every year, they hold a fundraising event, servicing over 1,500 in-need children throughout the Los Angeles area.
Ellen is known for her work in The Secrets of Emily Blair, Spartacus: War of the Damned, Into the Badlands, NCIS, and many more.
What happens when two entrepreneurial boys find a company wanting to give away thousands of books? Easy answer- they offer to take them and then, immediately, create a business plan, make contacts and begin distributing! Read.Repeat. is born! But what do they do when not sorting thousands of books and distributing to charities and schools?
Chase is a competitive gymnast who spends 10 hours a week at the gym and when he's not tumbling he's perfecting his martial arts skills on his way to black belt! As a member of the National Elementary Honor Society, Student Council and Duke Tip, he's awarded and challenged to maintain high academics while giving back to the community. He's also a Cub Scout and a member of the All County Honors Chorus.
Vance is a powerhouse in sports where he plays competitive football, defensive basketball and is goalie on the competitive soccer team. The competition isn't just on the field- he's also on the Math Bowl team and Battle of the Books Team. An award-winning chess player, Vance is a straight-A student who is a member of the National Elementary Honor Society, Duke Tip and Cub Scouts.
In our Hero of the Week segment, literacy champions Chase Hartman (10) and Vance Tomasi (11) tell John Bierly about the 15,000 (and counting!) books they've collected to give to children, veterans, and anyone in need who loves to read via Read.Repeat.! Find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!
