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Blank Rome's&nbsp;Adopt-A-Center Program hosts annual events that are fully underwritten by&nbsp;our firm, and additional funds for the organization are raised and donated annually by supporters of&nbsp;our Adopt-A-Center Program. We are proud to have supported the following organizations over the past 25 years.

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In November 2024, Adopt-A-Center partnered with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c5la.org/">C5 Los Angeles</a>&nbsp;to host a Shark Tank-inspired Career Day event at our Los Angeles office for its high school sophomores from under-resourced communities in the Los Angeles area.&nbsp;

The day began with a keynote address from Ajay Patel, Associate General Counsel at Amazon Studios, Movies &amp; TV. During the event, 60 ambitious teens created innovative business plans and pitched those ideas to a panel of four distinguished judges. The teens developed these business plans with guidance from renowned mentors across various industries such as philanthropy, real estate, entertainment, healthcare, fashion, hospitality, and S.T.E.M. technology. Added business advisors also included leading professionals from finance, accounting, HR, law, and PR/marketing. More than 50 professionals invited by Blank Rome worked with the C5 Los Angeles students. &nbsp;

Porto’s Bakery &amp; Cafe, a Los Angeles institution for more than 50 years, provided lunch and Disney provided swag for the C5 Los Angeles students.

C5 Los Angeles works to change the odds for high-potential teens from under-resourced communities by inspiring them to pursue personal success while preparing them for leadership roles in school, college, work, and their communities.&nbsp;

Our goal was to help change the odds for these high-potential teens, giving them tools, confidence, and support to dream big and we believe we did just that!&nbsp;

2023: Motivating Our Students Through Experience (“MOSTe”)

In October 2023, Adopt-A-Center partnered with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moste.org/">Motivating Our Students Through Experience (“MOSTe”)</a>&nbsp;to host a Career Day for its junior high and high school-aged women scholars at our Los Angeles office.

During the Career Day event, approximately 40 students from underserved Los Angeles communities learned from more than 30 professionals working in healthcare, real estate, marketing, legal, accounting, fashion, entertainment, and S.T.E.M. about various careers and what it takes to get there, while forming relationships that may help them along the way.

We believe we were successful in exposing these talented, driven, and resourceful young women to new industries and careers and providing them with resources to help achieve their goals!

2022: Exceptional Children’s Foundation

In the fall of 2022, Blank Rome’s Adopt-A-Center Program partnered with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecf.net/">Exceptional Children’s Foundation’s</a>&nbsp;(“ECF”) Kayne Eras School to provide its special needs students with upgraded production tools for their&nbsp;Bulldog News broadcast&nbsp;experiential learning program. ECF serves more than 5,000 people with developmental disabilities and their families annually across Los Angeles County—allowing them to reach their greatest potential. ECF’s&nbsp;<a href="https://kayneerasschool.org/">Kayne Eras School</a>&nbsp;empowers K-12 students to explore, achieve, and find joy in learning. The school’s programs are based on experiential learning: applying skills learned in the classroom to hands-on experiences and connecting theories to real-world applications.

Produced entirely by the students, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6d2MAKIxm4">Bulldog News broadcasts</a>&nbsp;cover school activities, sports, and the weather. Students apply a variety of learned skills to produce the broadcast, previously using not much more than a cell phone. As a result of the fundraiser, they now have cameras, audio equipment, lighting, editing computers and software, and more. Following the fundraiser, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrqKr4JHhg8">Bulldog News anchors interviewed Blank Rome partner and Adopt-A-Center chair, Stacy D. Phillips</a>,&nbsp;about the partnership.

Following a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, in 2021 Blank Rome’s Adopt-A-Center Program teamed with&nbsp;<a href="https://lafh.org/">LA Family Housing</a>&nbsp;for a virtual fundraiser to purchase STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) all-inclusive activity crates for nearly 900 children of families living in the nonprofit organization’s assisted housing. With activity crates teaching innovation and problem solving for toddlers through teens, there is nothing an engaged mind cannot do!

LA Family Housing’s mission is to help people transition out of homelessness and poverty through a continuum of housing enriched with supportive services. LA Family Housing operates 30 affordable, interim, and supportive housing residences throughout Los Angeles County. Since its founding in 1983, LA Family Housing has grown to become the largest affordable housing developer and homeless services provider in the San Fernando Valley, and a leader among service providers in Los Angeles as a whole, now serving 11,000+ people annually.

2019: Hope in a Suitcase

<a href="http://www.hopeinasuitcase.org/">Hope in a Suitcase</a>&nbsp;is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit group benefiting foster children. Its&nbsp;mission is to provide children and teens in foster care with a suitcase, along with basic essentials and comfort items, to make their transition into the foster care system and their circumstances just a little bit easier and more dignified.&nbsp;

On October 20, 2019, Blank Rome hosted a Hope in a Suitcase Shopping Day at the organization's&nbsp;Culver City, West Los Angeles location, helping more than 150 children and teens from foster care each fill their new suitcases with basic wardrobe essentials and comfort items.&nbsp;It was a memorable day for all who participated.

2018: Kaleidoscope of Change

To mark our 20th anniversary, we celebrated the depth and breadth of the Adopt-A-Center Program’s reach through an afternoon performance of dance, music, song, and community spirit at the Gindi Auditorium at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, CA. We showcased our past recipients and&nbsp;raised awareness in order to bring new nonprofits into the program. Together, we&nbsp;championed the important work of Los Angeles’ vibrant nonprofit community.

2017: Wolf ConnectionFounded in 2009,&nbsp;<a href="https://wolfconnection.org/">Wolf Connection</a>&nbsp;is a unique nonprofit serving Los Angeles that combines wolfdog rescue with youth development. Wolf Connection has rescued more than 50 wolfdogs throughout the nation who were victims of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. By incorporating these rescued and trained wolfdogs into their youth programs, Wolf Connection has successfully provided life education and skill-building experiences to at-risk youth to reduce violence in local communities. At the Wolf Connection’s educational sanctuary (located in the Angeles National Forest in Palmdale), at-risk youths from foster care, probation systems, alternative schools, and/or substance recovery programs experience the human/animal connection that effectively assists them in developing stronger social skills which can lead to academic success. The youth learn about healthy communication, teamwork, coping skills, creative arts, and hands-on vocational skills through activities most have never before experienced: hiking, connecting with animals, and understanding how their choices impact everything around them.In October 2017, Blank Rome and Wolf Connection held the first-ever Wolf Connection Fair and Concert to raise funds for the organization’s Youth Empowerment Program.

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2016: The Advot ProjectThe Advot Project&nbsp;is a grassroots nonprofit organization that works with incarcerated youth while they are in the Los Angeles County probation lock-up facilities, and continues with them upon release. The organization uses art and theater as a communications tool to foster self-esteem, manage anger, promote healthy relationships, and prevent violence. The program's goal is to help at-risk youth, especially young women ages 13-25, to find their voice and gain self-worth—encouraging their self-empowerment by giving them opportunities that they have never had, and helping them to develop the capacity to exhibit greater kindness and compassion, first for themselves and then with others.On Sunday, October 30, 2016, at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Blank Rome and The Advot Project hosted “Listen,” a special performing arts event presenting music, dance, and original poetry created and performed by the students of The Advot Project, and featuring guest musicians and singers. The sold-out event was enjoyed by an audience of 500 and raised more than $25,000 for The Advot Project.

2015: Boyle Heights Community Youth OrchestraThe&nbsp;Boyle Heights Community Youth Orchestra&nbsp;(“BHYCO”)&nbsp;is an “El Sistema” inspired orchestral training program that uses music to empower children, fight poverty, and help build healthy connections between young people and their community. Formed in 2012, BHYCO provides music and singing instruction, and instrument loans, free of charge, to children ages 6-14 who live in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. BHYCO also offers after-school and summertime programs throughout the year. In this neighborhood where poverty is extreme, violent crime is higher than average, student achievement is low, and music education in the elementary public school curriculum is virtually nonexistent,&nbsp;BHYCO is enriching children's lives and changing the fabric of an entire community.On November 15, 2015, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a concert featuring The Boyle Heights Community Youth Orchestra performing alongside Grammy award-winning recording artist Aloe Blacc, and Maya Jupiter and the Band Quetzal. A dessert reception followed. Highlights can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIU4EW7WEY8&amp;feature=em-upload_owner">here</a>.

2014: El Nido Family Centers<a href="http://elnidofamilycenters.org/">El Nido Family Centers</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower families in Los Angeles County’s low-income communities to break the cycle of poverty, child abuse, violence, academic failure, and teen pregnancy through educational, youth development, health, and therapeutic services. El Nido’s vision is one of healthy families and communities that provide the resources and support for all young people to attain their full potential.In 2014, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a photographic exhibit and reception at the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica where 25 stirring photographs taken by the youth (ages 12-20) of El Nido’s GRYD Program (Gang Reduction Youth Development) were on display. The majority of the framed photographs, along with unframed editions, were purchased by guests at the event through donations to El Nido. The proceeds from these donations and others collected by the Adopt-A-Center Program went to El Nido for future GRYD program supplies; each student photographer then received 30 percent of the proceeds for his or her individual work. The event was featured on KTLA Channel 5 News.

2013: Los Angeles Youth NetworkSince 1985, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youthemergingstronger.org/">Los Angeles Youth Network</a>&nbsp;(“LAYN”) has served homeless runaway, foster, and other youth members, ages 12-21, by providing emergency, group, and long-term housing; educational and enrichment programs that teach independent living skills; and resources to help them achieve productive lives.In 2013, the Adopt-A-Center Program sponsored a bowling party event and lunch.

2012: Imagine LA<a href="http://www.imaginela.org/">Imagine LA</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to end the cycle of family homelessness in Los Angeles by mobilizing trained mentors, collaborative public and private resources, and community leaders who understand that a roof over one's head is merely the starting point to a better life.In 2012, the Adopt-A-Center Program co-sponsored a skating event with Imagine LA at a Santa Monica outdoor ice rink, and enjoyed a pizza dinner with the families, staff, and all the invited guests.

2011: Upward Bound HouseFounded in 1991,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.upwardboundhouse.org/">Upward Bound House</a>&nbsp;(“UBH”) is a community-based social service agency that helps mitigate the affordable housing crisis on Los Angeles County’s Westside, with a specific focus on homeless families with children and very low-income seniors.In 2011, the Adopt-A-Center Program took the UBH families to see “Hairspray” at the Hollywood Bowl with a full celebrity cast, which included Harvey Fierstein and one of the Jonas brothers, among others. In addition to the Broadway show, the families enjoyed food under the stars; one little girl in attendance said it was the “best night of her life.”

2010: United in Harmony Mentoring ProgramThe&nbsp;<a href="http://unitedinharmony.org/">United in Harmony Mentoring Program</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization that provides homeless and impoverished children from more than 12 Los Angeles County shelters with hope and opportunities to develop positive self-esteem through enriching programs and interactions with teenage and adult role models.In 2010, the Adopt-A-Center Program sponsored “A Day at the Getty” with a group of children, their mentors, and invited guests, and included a picnic.

2009: Fred Jordan Missions<a href="https://fjm.org/">Fred Jordan Missions</a>&nbsp;(“FJM”) is a nonprofit mission located on Skid Row that works on the streets of inner city Los Angeles and throughout the world in its stated mission to “help share God’s love” by providing nourishing food, warm clothing, blankets, and other vital services to people in need.In 2009, the Adopt-A-Center Program once again sponsored FJM’s Back-to-School Backpack Day, with Program members stuffing backpacks (with paper provided by the Program) and assisting other volunteers in passing them out to more than 5,000 students.

2008: Fred Jordan Mission and The Levitt Pavilion Pasadena<a href="https://fjm.org/">Fred Jordan Missions</a>&nbsp;(“FJM”) is a nonprofit mission located on Skid Row that works on the streets of inner city Los Angeles and throughout the world in its stated mission to “help share God’s love” by providing nourishing food, warm clothing, blankets, and other vital services to people in need.In 2008, the Adopt-A-Center Program participated in FJM’s Back-to-School Backpack Day, an ongoing program that provides thousands of needy children with filled-up backpacks (with paper provided by the Program), toiletries, clothing, haircuts, and sneakers. In addition, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted children from FMJ to a dinner and outdoor evening concert at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.levittpavilionpasadena.org/">Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena</a>, of which the Program underwrote most of the cost and sponsored a performing folk group. To view a KTLA Channel 5 News video promoting this event, please click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaBH5DXwEU4&amp;list=UUVWTkve9xjf7KRhCRjDcAuA&amp;index=12&amp;feature=plcp">here</a>.

2007: Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and of the Inland Empire<a href="http://bbbsla.org/">Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles</a>&nbsp;and of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.iebigs.org/">Inland Empire</a>&nbsp;(the local arm of the national organization) help provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.In 2007, the Adopt-A-Center Program sponsored “A Day with the Dodgers” where a group of 300 Big Brothers with their little brothers enjoyed a Dodger game complete with food and drinks.

2006: Dispute Resolution Services Youth Peer Mediation Program&nbsp;(The Center for Civic Mediation)The&nbsp;Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Civic Mediation Project&nbsp;(“CMP”) (previously known as the "Dispute Resolution Services Youth Peer Mediation Program")&nbsp;helps individuals, families, schools, and communities in Los Angeles to resolve conflicts through mediation, facilitation, and other problem-solving methods. With mediation and conflict resolution training and coaching, CMP prepares people with the skills to constructively address disputes in a wide range of personal, community, and work settings.In 2006, the Adopt-A-Center Program adopted a group of Los Angeles inner city school children who were a part of the Dispute Resolution Youth Initiative Program, and invited a group of parents, children, sponsors, and&nbsp;guests to enjoy “A Day with the Dodgers,” complete with refreshments, t-shirts to take home, and a very exciting game against the San Diego Padres!

2005: Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services Youth Conflict Resolution Program&nbsp;(now known as The Center for Civic Mediation)The&nbsp;Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services Youth Conflict Resolution Program&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization that promotes a nationwide collaboration of partnerships joining governmental, public, and nonprofit agencies with schools, families, and community groups to teach positive conflict prevention, resolution, and life-skills in K-12 children.In 2005, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted over 800 children, family members, and invited guests at a private showing of “Chicken Little” at the El Capitan Theatre, complete with 3-D glasses, popcorn, and soda. The event successfully raised enough funds to support additional workshops and instructional sessions for the children enrolled in the program.

2004: Children Uniting NationsPioneered in Los Angeles in 1999,&nbsp;Children Uniting Nations&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization that provides academic and relationship-based mentoring for at-risk children to create “loving, tolerant, and capable world citizens.” The organization relies solely on donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations for its programs.In 2004, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a table at the group’s annual Academy Awards gala, and sponsored “A Day with the Dodgers” at Dodger Stadium as well as the “Day of the Child” event held at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

2003: Ocean Park Community CenterBased in Santa Monica, the&nbsp;Ocean Park Community Center&nbsp;is a network of shelters and services for low-income individuals, the homeless, battered individuals and their children, at-risk youth, and runaways to help rebuild their lives.In 2003, the Adopt-A-Center Program sponsored and manned a kids’ booth as part of a big carnival.

2002: Break the Cycle<a href="http://www.breakthecycle.org/">Break the Cycle</a>’s Los Angeles office engages, educates, and empowers youth to end dating violence, and provides free legal services, advocacy, and support to youth ages 12-22.In 2002, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a garden party event at the world-famous Beverly Hills Greystone Mansion where, along with singers from UCLA, many of the youth performed a variety of song and dance numbers.

2001: Venice Family ClinicThe<a href="http://www.venicefamilyclinic.org/">&nbsp;Venice Family Clinic&nbsp;</a>is a comprehensive health clinic that serves uninsured and low-income adults and homeless children, regardless of their ability to pay.In 2001, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a Sunday afternoon event where a group of clinic personnel and guests—ranging in age from 4-80 years old—were invited to paint decorative tiles that now comprise a floor-to-ceiling mural in the clinic’s second-floor lobby. Each tile was personally adorned with special sayings, drawings, and symbols by the “artists.” The event also included an “Old Fashioned Hoe-Down” with bales of hay and country rock music, a barbeque, beverages, and multi-flavored snow cones.

2000: Free Arts for Abused Children FoundationThe&nbsp;<a href="http://www.freearts.org/">Free Arts for Abused Children Foundation</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit organization that serves abused and neglected children in Los Angeles and Orange County through its “Art Heals” philosophy, which allows expression through the fine arts.In 2000, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted an art auction at a West Los Angeles art gallery, raising more than $20,000 to support this organization. The Program also hosted a “Free Arts Day” at Vista Del Mar where a group of children living at Vista Del Mar created art projects and enjoyed a pizza and ice cream lunch.

1999: Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services<a href="http://www.vistadelmar.org/">Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services</a>&nbsp;provides comprehensive, family-centered social, educational, and behavioral health services that encourage children, adolescents, and their families to lead self-reliant, stable, and productive lives. The services include the Vista School, which resides on 18 acres of land and includes the Vista Pre-School and a K-12 school; a residential therapeutic treatment program; adoption services; therapeutic counseling for families and children through community school-based programs and the Vista Del Mar counseling programs; and child care for low-income families, so parents can go to school or work.In its 1999 inaugural launch, the Adopt-A-Center Program hosted a cocktail party and two “beautification” days of planting trees and flowers on the Vista Del Mar campus. The Program also hosted monthly birthday parties—complete with pizza, soda, ice cream, and birthday cake, as well as presents—for the Vista Del Mar children who could not go home for their birthdays.

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