WPC Responds to L.A.'s Food Crisis

The last Sunday of every month from 1:00-3:00p.m. WPC collects food items for the Food Pantry of Wilshire Presbyterian Church (300 S. Western). Volunteers meet in the church parking lot (socially distanced and safe) to collect and pack food dropped off by congregation members. Please check the weekly News and Concerns for the items needed every month.

 

The first Sunday of each month is Hunger Sunday. As WPC gathers to celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are invited to donate to the Westside Food Bank. Additional mission monies are also donated to Meals-On-Wheels. Click here to give towards the work of the Westside Food Bank.

How to Get Involved

Engaging in Mission is essential as we live out the lives that Christ has called us to.  WPC has a deep, committed history, of partnering with organizations and individuals that serve those living on the margins in an effort to bring about the world that God intended for us.  We invite you to join us as we seek to do justice, while walking humbly with our God.  Our Mission and Outreach team facilitates numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the year, introducing members and friends of our congregation to wonderful service organizations.


For more information on any of WPC’s programs, please contact the church office at (310) 474-4535 or office@westwoodpres.org.


Donate to a Mission & Outreach Ministry or Mission Partner

OUR MISSION PARTNERS

  • FosterAll (formerly Child SHARE) is a church-based foster care network founded in Los Angeles County to rescue abused and neglected children languishing in institutional care. FosterAll began in 1985 with key leadership and seed money from Westwood Presbyterian Church. WPC has been a faithful source of mission support ever since.  Over the years, FosterAll has helped to give many children safe and loving foster homes. Parents recruited by FosterAll nurture these children, heal their hurts, and give them hope for the future. An important component of FosterAll is providing support systems, including babysitting, baby equipment, and counseling, to make foster parenting as easy as possible. Today, they work with over 400 local congregations representing 30 denominations to find families and friends for neglected children. Over 600 children lived in FosterAll's foster or adoptive homes in LA or Orange County last year, with around 200 new placements each year! To learn more, visit their website.   

  • Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry founded in 1976 with a goal of eliminating homelessness from the world.  To date, Habitat for Humanity has built over 500,000 homes serving more than 2 million people worldwide.  Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, individuals’ dreams of having a home become a tangible reality.  For more information, please visit their website.   

  • People Assisting the Homeless is a Los Angeles residential and outreach program that provides meals, clothing, job referrals, and counseling to help homeless people providing a hand-up instead of a hand-out. Founded in 1984 by Westwood Presbyterian Church, PATH has an 80% success rate in helping people to get back on their feet. In 2002 PATH opened a regional homeless center in Hollywood, which provides a host of services under one roof. The center provides living quarters, a free medical clinic, a mental health unit with street outreach teams, a job center, and a care center for homeless HIV/AIDS patients.  In recent years, PATH has developed an increasing focus to provide Permanent Supportive Housing to the chronically homeless. To learn more about PATH visit their website. For more details about their three year plan, click here.

  • S.P.Y. offers a safe environment for youth experiencing homelessness.  WPC partners with S.P.Y. by renting its Ashton Street house for transitional housing that leads to permanent sustainable housing. Visit their website for more information.

     

  • The Westside Food Bank distributes food to over 80 agencies to provide food to people without resources. WPC members and friends donate generously to the Food Bank through the church’s Mission Outreach committee on the first Sunday of every month. The Westside Food Bank began in 1981, providing fresh produce, dairy products, baked goods, and canned and packaged food, giving agencies more time and money to devote to counseling and problem-solving for their clients.  The Westside Food Bank collects food donated by religious and civic organizations, schools, and manufacturers, as well as unsold food from supermarkets, farmers, and bakeries.  They distributed a staggering 4.5 million pounds of food in 2019 (51% of which was fresh produce) primarily to veterans and college students!  Through monthly contributions to the Westside Food Bank since the mid 1980s, WPC is its largest private financial supporter. Visit their website for more information.

  • WPC participates in a network of churches and nonprofits that address hunger, housing, and health in the Westside community. Click here to find out more about the mission of the Westside Coalition.

Westwood Reaches Out

Twice a year WPC volunteers participate in a day of service. Organizations that WPC has reached out to include: Habitat for Humanity, Heal the Bay, Homeboy Industries, Los Angeles Food Bank, Friends of the LA River, Esperanza Elementary School, and the Westside Food Bank. Join us on our next Westwood Reaches Out opportunity!

Disaster Relief

  • Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

    Presbyterian Disaster Assistance enables congregations and mission partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities adversely affected by crisis and catastrophic events. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is the emergency and refugee program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its core budget including staff and administrative costs is funded through the One Great Hour of Sharing, and its program work is additionally funded through designated gifts. Westwood Presbyterian Church has made significant contributions in recent years to PDA to aid victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 hurricanes in the Southeastern U.S., the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the earthquakes in both Haiti and Japan, tornado’s in the U.S and many more. For more information please visit: www.pcusa.org/pda for more information.

Christmas Outreach


  • Christmas Turkey Dinners

    Since 1982, WPC has held an annual Christmas Dinner project, providing a festive turkey dinner with all of the fixings for families who otherwise might not have had the means to put Christmas dinner on the table. Each year in December, WPC members and friends contribute the funds ($24,500 needed annually) and then gather to pack the dinner boxes for delivery to families across Los Angeles.

  • christmas toy & gift drive

    Our annual Toy and Gift Drive benefits families and individuals of five local organizations: the children of FosterAll,  Homeboy Industries, veterans and families receiving support services from St. Joseph’s Center in Venice, and families at the Salvation Army’s Westwood Transitional Village.  WPC members and friends are invited to fulfill the specific Christmas wishes requested by children and adults in need, thus making Christmas a bit merrier for many.