Find A Service
True Angels represent the best of Los Angeles, bringing our community together through their tireless commitment to making ours a safer, more beautiful, and more just city. Nominate someone to be recognized as a True Angel and read about past True Angels below.
SAL MARTINEZ
Sal serves as Vice Chair of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, Chair of the Hollenbeck Community Police Advisory Board, active parent advocate at Stevenson Middle School and Roosevelt HS and supporter of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
He is also an active member of Victory Outreach and a Police Reserve Officer. Sal understands the importance of community involvement and the self-sacrifice that comes with that position.
MARY LOUISE REEVES
Mary Louise has been a City Hall Docent since 1977 as part of “Las Angelinas” docent program. As a docent, she volunteers a couple times a week to provide City Hall tours to Angelenos and tourists alike. She is currently the Lead Docent and often times comes is several times a week to do tours when other Docents are not available.
Through the City Hall tours, Mary Louise is able to paint of picture of this iconic building from yesteryear to today.
FRED GONG aka “Grandpa Fred”
Fred Gong is an active volunteer at the Chinatown Library where he is a “Grandparents and Books” volunteer reading to children. Since 1977, Grandpa Fred has volunteered at the English Conversation Center at the Chinatown Library helping adults learn English.
Fred Gong is a World War II veteran who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters. Active in the Chinatown community, Grandpa Fred also volunteers with the Chinatown Public Safety Association and the Chinese Americans Citizens Alliance.
LINDA ABRAMS
As a Board Member of the Valley Interfaith Council, and in her role as the Co-Chair of the VIC Spirit of the Valley Awards Dinners for two years, Linda has raised several hundred thousands of dollars to feed the hungry in the San Fernando Valley and to provide care for the elderly at the VIC Regional Seniors Centers.
Linda has become a key organizer to educate Neighborhood Councils citywide on how to use the new Neighborhood Purposes Grant system to work more effectively with non-profit organizations in Los Angeles in order to feed the hungry and to restock food pantries in their local areas. By holding volunteer workshops and conferences at the NC Congresses and at the Mayor's Budget Day events, Linda has shown how important it is for Angelenos at every level to look out for those in need and less fortunate than ourselves through a life of volunteerism and service.
TERESA DAHL
Teresa Dahl most recently worked at CNN as an Assignment Editor and Field Producer. During her years at CNN Los Angeles, Teresa helped shape the network’s coverage of major news events. For the past five years, Teresa been a stay-at-home mother with two young children and a community activist. She has organized support for public schools and has worked within her local schools to inspire students and their families to engage in community service.
Teresa is an advocate for garden learning in schools, and believes strongly in the value of hands-on, garden-based learning. She volunteers weekly teaching science in the garden she helped build at Carthay Center Elementary and is a co-founder of the Los Angeles Green Schoolyard Alliance.
JOE CONNOLLY
Since the civil unrest of 1992, Joe has been consumed by volunteer work. He has spent over 30,000 hours, and who knows how much money developing an anti-graffiti, anti-gang program in the mid city area that has saved our city millions to date. His program has been the featured in over 500 media stories and his appearance in the critically acclaimed documentary, "Infamy" in 2005 established him as the definitive anti-graffiti expert in America. He has inspired countless citizens to safely address the graffiti in their communities.
His volunteer efforts include the American Red Cross, City of Hope, Cedars Sinai, the LAPD, the Jewish Federation & the Westside JCC. In 2000 Joe received the CalTrans Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer of the Year honor.
CECILIA MORENO
Cecilia has been active in the Harbor for years and currently works for the Port of Los Angeles. This has not limited her community involvement as she presently serves as an active Board Member and Officer of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce; the Board of the Banning's Landing; and the Board of the Wilmington YMCA. She is an active and integral part of each of these organizations.
In 2001, Cecilia started the Spanish Community Police Advisory Board where she remains active. She established this board to improve the relationship between the LAPD Harbor Division and Spanish speaking community.
BILL VANDENBERG
Bill, Dean of Students at Crenshaw High, is a big part in the school’s garden revitalization project which is part of the City’s Good Food Network. Many community leaders in South LA have been witness to his dedication and passion to respecting the environment and through the school’s Eco Club, he has empowered the youth in the development of their social consciousness.
The Eco Club offers his students an opportunity to take students -- regardless of grade point average or discipline issues -- on weekly hikes, community service outings and annual backpacking trips to Yosemite National Park. The Eco Club has given some students the opportunity to see the ocean and the mountains -- many for the first time.