SOVA Celebrates 25 Years!

On Sunday September 21, 2008, SOVA marked its 25th Anniversary of fighting hunger and poverty in Los Angeles with a special day at Corbin Bowl in Tarzana. It was a fun-filled day of bowling, arcade games, bingo, raffles, children's art projects, delicious food and much more designed to celebrate this important milestone in SOVA's history. Over $200,000 was raised through the event – money critically needed to enable SOVA to continue to fulfill its mission.

The celebration was made possible by a dedicated team of volunteers and supporters led by Rick Powell and Barbara Weiser who chaired the event committee. In attendance were many people from the program's past and present including two of SOVA's founders, Zucky Altman and Toni Reinis. Dozens of active and former volunteers from over the years joined in the festivities (including Stelle Strozer who has volunteered continuously at SOVA since its opening!) County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel made special guest appearances to present commemorative proclamations honoring SOVA and the key people who have helped insure the success of this vital community program.

The wonderful team from Hold the Date (Debbie Powell, Ann Barnett and Rusty Feldman) provided the professional party planning expertise so that everything went off without a hitch. And the “above and beyond” dedication of the entire SOVA staff, particularly Maxine Meyer, Jane Zuckerman and Diane Linder, helped make this a wonderful and memorable day.

We sincerely appreciate the generosity of all of the financial supporters who helped us surpass our fund-raising goal for this anniversary celebration. These donations – large and small – are all gratefully appreciated and each one helps SOVA in its mission to help end poverty and hunger in our community.

Of particular note, we wish to thank: