We Touch Hearts and Open Minds
For nearly 60 years, the Volunteer Center has been a trusted presence in the South Bay, Harbor, and Long Beach communities and beyond. We are known for leading and administering programs that include Food for Kids, Operation Teddy Bear, the Court-Referred Community Service program, and youth support initiatives such as Connect. The core of our work is not the programs alone, but the creation of an umbrella of care with all of our efforts. Everything we do is designed to build empathy and resilience in our community through community service and volunteerism.
We serve not only children and families in need of assistance, but also those families with the means to assist. A hungry child from an under-resourced family who is fed through our programs gains the ability to focus and study for a better future, and learns that the community cares for them. A child whose parents engage them in volunteering learns to have empathy for the lives of others, and to seek personal well-being and healing through service.
Our Leadership Team
Sandy Montalvo
Interim President/CEO
Jon Phelps
Program Coordinator
Nicole Leal Hernandez
Program Assistant
Board Members
Dianne Bozler
Chair
University of Southern California, Retired
Brenda Montgomery Williams
Immediate Past Chair
First Steps Strategic Planning
Kevin Morrow
Vice Chair
Real Estate Professional
Steve Kovary
Treasurer
Steven A. Kovary, CPA & Co.
Paula Cox-Marshall
Secretary
TV and Radio Account Executive, Retired
Renee Moilanen
Fund Development
Environmental Consultant
Lea Ann King
Programs
Community Organizer
Heather Black Goyan
Programs
Real Estate Professional, Retired
Jean Adelsman
Community Volunteer
Denise Beggs
Boeing, Retired
Naher Elramly
Malaga Bank
Bob Gold
Bob Gold & Associates
Laura Kauls
Certified Public Accountant, Retired
Gesuina Lafayette
Torrance Refining Company
Betty C. Lieu, Esq.
Torrance Unified School District
Roseanney Liu
Scorpius Media LLC
Connie Robinson
Information Technology Professional
Maureen Rubin
Lawyer
Eliana Sanchez
Kinecta Federal Credit Union
Shirley Starke-Wallace
Retired LAUSD Administrator
Our Approach
Care for One,
Care for All
With our longstanding presence in the community, we have decades-long partnerships and relationships across the nonprofit, educational, government, and business sectors. Whether we are engaged in long-term planning, program evaluation, or mobilizing quickly due to an urgent need, our approach is to bring everyone to the table. Our current focus and strategic direction, Engaging Hearts & Minds (EH&M) is the result of significant research, evaluation, and discussion with partners and experts on where and how care is needed most.
Our Nonprofit Partners
The Volunteer Center has established a Nonprofit Network of peer organizations that help us continually identify where care is needed most, and allow us to quickly mobilize and distribute large scale donations across our region.
Our Community Involvement
The Volunteer Center team also serves as part of numerous community task forces and coalitions. This allows us to better empathize with the needs of various communities in our service area and to support peer organizations in their efforts to improve the lives of families, while we continue to grow our stakeholder relationships.
Our History
We began establishing our own service programs – Court Referral Community Service, Operation Teddy Bear, Food for Kids, VIVA and VCYC teen programs – which made a significant impact in our region throughout the decades. In 2006, after receiving much recognition over the years, the Volunteer Center was designated the #1 volunteer center in the country by the national Points of Light Foundation.
Over the years we have benefited from strong leadership and we celebrate the contribution of our longtime former executive director and CEO, De De Hicks, for whom our building is named.
The approach of volunteer organizations like ours has needed to change with the times, and in recognition of that need, we conducted a comprehensive strategic planning exercise in 2018 and adopted the Carver Model of board governance.
Our current focus, vision and mission prioritizes serving youth and families by touching their hearts and opening their minds so that they are ready and willing to step forward and serve in a complex world.
Stay connected.
Together we can touch hearts and open minds.
SUBSCRIBE TODAYIf you have any questions regarding community service, community labor, HAM, and/or MADD, you may contact us via email at vcprogramsinfo@gmail.com, call or visit one of our offices listed below.
Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4pm
Bellflower Office
(Open M-W-F 8:30am to 4pm)
9849 Flower St., #B
Bellflower, CA 90706
562-866-2666
Long Beach Office
1407 East 4th Street
Long Beach, CA 90802
562-590-8844
LA Airport/So. LA Office
11701 So. La Cienega Blvd.,
Room 570F
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-643-5004
Torrance Office
1230 Cravens Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
310-212-7997
Inglewood Office - Closed
Please contact our LA Airport Office
11701 So. La Cienega Blvd.
Room 570F
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-643-5004