June 28, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Foster, senior citizen mothers to be honored

(Thinkstock)
(Thinkstock)

Mother’s Day in the Los Angeles area will include tributes to foster parents and mothers in senior citizen housing today while Major League Baseball will dedicate all its games to the fight against breast cancer.

Foster parents will be honored at the seventh annual Mother’s Day celebration at the Willows Community School in Culver City, getting their hair styled, receiving lunch, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry and other gifts.

“Foster parents are heroes every day,” said Jeanne Pritzker, founder of  Foster Care Counts, a nonprofit organization which supports foster youth and the agencies that serve them. “They give of themselves to the tens of thousands of foster youth in Los Angeles and what better day to recognize them then Mother’s Day?”

What organizers are billing as the “largest Mother’s Day celebration in the world” will be held at the Los Angeles Jewish Home in Reseda, honoring mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers.

The celebration will include live music and dancing.

The Pay it Forward volunteer band of professional musicians will play at four skilled nursing facilities in the San Fernando Valley.

“On Mother’s Day we will loudly reaffirm the idea that the women of this generation sacrificed much in order to pass to us the country that we are privileged to live in today,” band director Gary Gamponia said. “These very elderly ladies, most of them mothers, are the history of our country and they should be honored and remembered in a special way.”

Debbie Chaple of Riverside will be the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s honorary bat girl for their game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium.

“God, family, friends and baseball make living with breast cancer a little easier,” Chaple wrote in her contest entry. “We use travel and sports to forget about cancer for awhile. We love seeing our beautiful country and try to take in a ballgame whenever we can. Whether it is a major league, minor league or a softball game, we always love the game.”

All players and other on-field personnel in all of today’s games will wear symbolic pink ribbons on their uniforms. Commemorative base jewels and dugout lineup cards will also be pink. The Mother’s Day games will be played using  baseballs with pink stitching for the third consecutive year.

Many players will use pink bats and pink Louisville Slugger bats will be stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo. Many game-used Louisville Slugger pink bats will be auctioned on Major League Baseball’s website, MLB.com, with proceeds helping to fight breast cancer.

This is the 10th consecutive year Major League Baseball has dedicated Mother’s Day to the fight against breast cancer.

In his Mother’s Day proclamation, President Barack Obama wrote, “Whether married or single, LGBT or straight, biological, adoptive or foster, mothers are the bedrocks of our lives and the foundation of our society. They are our first friends and teachers, inspiring us to reach great heights and supporting us no matter the challenges we face or the paths we choose.

“Today, we come together to celebrate the women who raised us and love us unconditionally, who do whatever it takes to set us on the road to success and want nothing more than for us to lead happy, healthy lives.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti urged “Angelenos to thank all of those women in our lives who raise us, who nurture us, who set expectations and provide a safe space for us.”

Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, told City News Service, he considered Mother’s Day “a day of remembrance — a mixture of sadness at the loss of my mother and gratitude for everything she did as a single mom to give me and my sisters to have full, rewarding lives.”

“I think not only of the role my mother played, but that of all mothers as driving forces in our society — our protectors, our providers, our teachers, our inspirations, our leaders.”

Mother’s Day was initially proposed in 1870 by activist-poet Julia Ward Howe as a call for peace and disarmament. It was celebrated in 18 cities in 1873, continued for about another 10 years in Boston under Howe’s backing, then died out.

The second attempt to establish Mother’s Day began on May 9, 1907, the second anniversary of the death of Anna Jarvis’ mother Ann. She invited several friends to her home in Philadelphia in commemoration of her mother’s life, which included providing nursing care and promoting better sanitation during the Civil War, helping save lives on both sides.

Jarvis announced to her friends her idea of a day of national celebration in honor of mothers, which was first celebrated on May 10, 1908 at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, W.V. where Ann Jarvis worshipped. The church is now known as the International Mother’s Day Shrine.

West Virginia Gov. William E. Glasscock issued the first Mother’s Day proclamation in 1910. By 1911, it was celebrated in nearly every state. President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional joint resolution in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day nationally.

Tags: in News
Related Posts

Captain America Hits the Skirball Big Screen for Heroic Outdoor Movie Night

June 27, 2025

June 27, 2025

Museum-Goers Can Also Catch a Superhero-Themed Drawing Session The Skirball Cultural Center will host an outdoor screening of Captain America:...

Demolition Underway at Beverly Grove Squatter Site After Mystery Fire Renews Safety Fears

June 27, 2025

June 27, 2025

Crews Begin Tearing Down Long-Vacant Apartments on First and Flores  Demolition has begun at a group of long-abandoned apartment buildings...

(Video) Welcome to the Urban Jungle — where nature meets the city and style meets soul

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Whether you’re chasing that gritty city energy or carving out a green oasis in your space, we’re here to help...

Man Arrested in Shooting That Disrupted Vigil for Slain Teen at Culver City High, Police Say

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Gunfire Erupted During Memorial Attended by Hundreds at Culver City High School The Culver City police department announced that a...

Santa Monica Police Arrest Shooting Suspect After Officer Ambushed Near Downtown Mall

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Man Linked to Waymo Vehicle Gunfire Taken Into Custody Following Tense Manhunt The suspect wanted in connection with a shooting...

Michelin Stars Shine Bright on LA: Somni West Hollywood and Providence Earn Top Honors

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Two Restaurants in Los Angeles Receive Three Stars as Michelin Guide Celebrates Bold Flavors The MICHELIN Guide California 2025 celebrated...

Cherished Culver City Ice Cream Vendor Abducted in Broad Daylight

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano’s Disappearance Led To Grassroots Action Ambrocio Lozano, also known in the neighborhood as Enrique, was abducted around...

Culver City Leaders Address Youth Safety Crisis After Teen’s Death, Gunfire at Vigil

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Leaders Respond Following Tragedy and Shooting at School Vigil Culver City officials convened a press conference Wednesday morning to confront...

Brentwood Home by Landry Design Group Wins Top National Architecture Award

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Landry Design Group Wins Gold Nugget Awards for Brentwood, Crestwood Projects Landry Design Group (LDG) earned two top honors at...

(Video) WISE & Healthy Aging Helps Loved Ones Boost Their Quality of Life

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs Advance the Dignity of Life for Older Adults See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs...

Masked Federal Agents Detain Iranian Asylum Seeker and Wife in Westwood

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

31-Year-Old Woman was Hospitalized After Possible Medical Emergency On Tuesday, June 24, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., near the...

Culver City Pride Rolls In with Sunset Ride and Rally June 28

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Celebrate With a 6-Mile Pride Ride and Free Block Party Culver City will mark its fifth annual Pride celebration on...

Los Angeles Leaders Push to Ban Masks for Federal Agents Amid Immigration Raids

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Concerns Grow Over Anonymous ICE and CBP Officers in Los Angeles   A growing coalition of California lawmakers and local leaders...

Squatter-Plagued Beverly Grove Buildings Could Be Razed After Hazard Cleanup

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Demolition of Three Abandoned Apartments May Begin in Two Weeks Three abandoned apartment buildings in Beverly Grove may soon be...

From Westwood to DTLA, Angelenos March Against Military Escalation in Iran

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Protestors Rally at the Westwood Federal Building This Weekend Following President Donald Trump’s authorization of airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear-related...