Community Announcements/ Ongoing Events:

Academic Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (AFICE) is looking for individuals to work as Community Representatives, who will find host families for international students and will work with them and their families. Call Anne Ring, 866.462.3423.Adapted Gentle Restoratives for Seniors, yoga classes for seniors with Bea Ammidown, 310.358.3558.Ammidown Yoga Studio Santa Monica is offering therapeutic special needs classes for all levels; Wednesdays, 7-8pm, Thursdays, 10-11am, Fridays 10:30-11:30am & (Writing Workshop continuing until 12.45pm) & Saturdays 9:30-10:30am. Please call Bea to register, 310. 358.3558, beayoga888@verizon. net; ww.yogability.org. The American Red Cross is looking for volunteers. Various positions are available. To volunteer, call Tom Viscount at 310.394.3773 x112 from 1-5 pm, Monday-Thursday. Ananda LA offers free Thursday Night Lectures, every other Thursday at 7:30pm, anandala.org. Applications are now being accepted for the Santa Monica Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force. Application forms may be downloaded at smgov.net. Applications must be returned by 3pm, June 1, 2009 to: Director of Community Maintenance, 2500 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. CA 90404. Any questions may be directed to Rosona Starks at rosona.starks@smgov.net.Art Experience Group Expanding the Limits meets weekly. Participants don’t have to be practicing artists but only need be open to a most daring examination of themselves through a visual experience. The groups meets 3-4:30pm, Wednesdays, at 502 Rialto Ave., Venice. Cost: $320 a month. Call 310.450.6685.Baha’i Center in Santa Monica is located at 3102 Colorado Avenue, 310.394.7971 or go to santamonicabahai.org.Ballroom by the Bay, every Wednesday beginning March 4, Santa Monica Bay Women’s Club, 1210 4th Street, 7:30-11pm, admission: $10, info: 310.487.0911.Beyond Baroque offers free writing workshops including Monday night Literary and Experimental Fiction, 8pm, Tuesday night Creative Non-Fiction, 8pm, Wednesday night poetry, 8pm, Thursday night alt screenplay, 8pm, Saturday afternoon poetry 1:30pm, and 4th Saturday of the month morning poetry and prose 11am. Beyond Baroque Literary / Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, 310.822.3006. Do You Have the Heart for Hospice? Roze Room Hospice seeks volunteers to provide support and companionship to terminally ill patients and their families. Training is free. We have patients at home and in nursing facilities in throughout the Westside and Los Angeles. For more information, contact Kathleen McMahon, Volunteer Coordinator, at 323.938.1155 or volcoord@rozeroomhospice.org.Donate blood on Monday and Wednesdays at the American Red Cross of Santa Monica, 1450 11th St. Hours for donations vary, so call to schedule an appointment. 1.800.GIVE.LIFE or 1.888.POR.FAVOR.Food Addicts Anonymous has free meetings every Saturday from 11:30am-12:30pm at the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, 6700 W. 83rd St., Westchester. There are no dues or fees, just the desire to abstain from the foods we crave. foodaddictsanonymous.org. Free help with anxiety, depression, stress, and anger is provided by Recovery International. This worldwide non-profit organization, founded in 1937, holds weekly meetings every Saturday, 10:30am., at Trinity Church, California & 11th St. Free, but contributions welcomed. For more information, call 310.476.1741. Forget your troubles with Free Salsa Dancing Nights after 9pm!!! Salsa Wednesdays at Club Main, 2941 Main St, also Salsa fun fiestas Fridays, & Sundays at Isabelle’s Dance Club Atmosphere Academy at 1334 Lincoln Blvd. Salsa Lessons available at both locations at 7:30pm for Beg & Intermediates with Isabelle and/or Ricky. $15.00 for a 90-minute class. For details isabellesalsa.com, 310.392.3493.The Los Angeles Regional Census Center is actively recruiting managers for 27 Local Census Offices. In the fall of 2009, these offices will open to direct Field Operations for the region’s population count on Census Day, April 1, 2010. Managers’ salaries range from $19.25 to $29.00 per hour depending on location and position. To reserve a seat for testing, please call 866.861.2010, enter zero: “0” and your zip code. For more info, go to census.gov/losangeles.The Marshall McLuhan-Finnegans Wake Reading Club meets first Tuesdays from 6-8pm at the Lloyd Taber-Marina Del Rey Library, 4533 Admiralty Way, MDR, 310.306.7330 or venicewake.org.Meals on Wheels West needs volunteers to deliver meals to homebound people in Santa Monica. Deliveries are from 11am-1pm, Mondays-Fridays. To volunteer call 310.394.7558.Mt. Olive Film Night, entertaining and thought-provoking films shown on the second Saturdays of each month, supper at 6pm, films start at 7pm, free, Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 1343 Ocean Park Blvd., 310.452.1116.Musicians invited to meet weekly and perform in concert with the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony Orchestra, Tuesdays, 6:30pm, bandroom, Paul Revere Middle School, 1450 Allenford Ave., Brentwood, 310.829.3149.Open Poetry and Prose Readings, every Thursday, 8-10pm, Novel Café, 212 Pier Ave. Come Read, Listen, and Enjoy! Everyone welcome, all genres (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, etc). 1000 word max per reader. Hosted by Forth Magazine. Forthmagazine.com. Pacific Jewish Center-The Shul on the Beach, has started a free lecture series, “Monday Night Connections,” at 8pm with Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, who will explore connections between Torah concepts. The class takes place at the synagogue’s “annex,” 726 Rose Avenue, Venice, 310.392.8749.Relaxation Study: Relieve Stress, Tension, and Anxiety. Participate for free relaxation therapy in Santa Monica.Call Grant: 310.399.8982.Relaxation & Visualization for Cancer Patients & Family, intended to help improve the quality of life for people with cancer and their loved ones. Every Wednesday, 6:15-7pm, The Wellness Community_West LA, 2716 Ocean Park Blvd., Boulevard, Ste. 1040.Santa Monica Oceanaires barbershop harmony chorus invites men of all ages and voice parts to sing each Tuesday, 7-10pm, Church of Christ, 9733 Venice Blvd., WLA, oceanaires.org, 310.202.1380.Santa Monica’s Solid Waste Division’s website answers many residential and business customer queries. To learn how to set up recycling programs at apartment buildings, what to do with unwanted electronics devices, where to drop off bulky items like refrigerators, and answers to many more questions go to smgov.net/swm. SMC’s Continuing Education Program is offering free ESL and Citizenship classes, 1-4pm Wednesdays, at SMC’s Bundy campus, 3171 S. Bundy Dr., WLA, and at the Madison campus, 1310 11th St., 310.434.3400.Soroptimist is a service organization available to help women and children. Meetings are held the first and third Wednesday of each month, 310.395.6168. Stay Fit for the year! Flow Yoga Wednesdays 5:30 -6:30pm, Flow Yoga Saturdays noon-1pm. Classes are ongoing. Drop-ins welcome. Classes are taught by Sarah Bergman, a Certified Yoga Instructor known for her life-affirming teaching style. Suggested donation: $5 per class. Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 1343 Ocean Park Blvd., 310.452.1116. Swing Brazil Kids is a one hour class designed to build confidence and self-esteem through the magic and creativity of Brazilian dance – movement, story telling, songs and drums. The class is taught by cultural educator Vida Vierra, Artistic Director of Swing Brazil Dance Company. Mondays from 3:30-4:30pm at the Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice. Class fee is $10. 310.828.1489.Take a walk through Santa Monica history! The Santa Monica Conservancy conducts downtown walking tours every Saturday at 10am. Tickets are $5 for Conservancy members, $10 for non-members. For reservations, call 310.496.3146 or go to smconservancy.org.Wordsmith Creative Writing Workshop begins May 21, $295 for eight weeks, 7-9:30pm, once a week in Venice. Seating is limited. Fee nonrefundable. If you would like to reserve a place please contact lisa @ barringtoneditorial.com. Yappy Hour, ongoing social event, every Thursday dogs and people can meet and greet each other, 6-8pm, free, Tails of Santa Monica, 2912 Main St., 310.392.4300.Yoga Prose™, a therapeutic journaling process in a gentle and empowering Yoga class, 10:30am-12:45pm. Beginners & non-writers welcome. Facilitated by certified Yoga therapist/journalist Bea Ammidown. Santa Monica Studio. 310.358.3338, beayoga888@verizon.net www.yogability.org.Health and FitnessCedars-Sinai Medical Center is seeking participants with type 2 diabetes for a controlled clinical study evaluating an implantable device that delivers electrical impulses to the stomach. Participants must be between 18 and 70 years of age and have a body mass index between 28 and 45. For more information, call 310.423.3779.The City of Santa Monica has a recreational tennis league for intermediate and advanced players. To register, call 310.358.3393.The Center for the Partially Sighted has free support groups for adults with impaired sight. You do not need to be a client of the Center to participate. For more information, contact Pam Thompson at 310.458.3501 x146. DanceAlive class with Melinda Deamon, 1-2pm Wednesdays, $3, Center for Healthy Aging, 2125 Arizona Ave., 310.576.2550 x390. Dance and Live Fiddle Band, the California Dance Cooperative holds contradances (which is sort of like square dancing, only more fun) on the first and fourth Saturday night of every month, Brentwood Youth House, 731 S. Bundy Dr., 7:30pm, all ages welcome, $9, 818.951.2003.