The Spiritist Organizations of California would like to invite you to a series of events with Divaldo Franco, famous Spiritist speaker, medium and educator. Mr. Franco will be in California from April 3 to April 7, 2012.

Divaldo Franco has been raising spiritual awareness and spreading messages of love and enlightenment throughout the world for almost 60 years. He has co-authored more than 210 books through automatic writing, with more than 8 million copies sold worldwide. His books have been translated into 16 different languages.

Bring your family and friends! Don’t miss the opportunity to experience a message of love, peace and faith from a world renowned Spiritist speaker.

Here’s the scheduled of planned activities. Please check back often for more information!

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Divaldo Franco’s Agenda in California:

SAN FRANCISCO
April 3, 2012 – Tuesday

SAN FRANCISCO
April 4, 2012 – Wednesday

LOS ANGELES
April 5, 2012 – Thursday

SAN DIEGO
April 6, 2012 – Friday

LOS ANGELES
April 7, 2012 – Saturday (Workshop)

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For years now Blossom has taken part in the “Brazilian Day in LA”, a Brazilian community event held in LA to celebrate Brazilian Independence Day. Traditionally, we put together a “Pastel” booth, where we sell a typical Brazilian fried snack to fundraise for Blossom. This is, every year, our best fundraiser!

The event is around the corner (Sat, September 1oth) and we need your help! We need volunteers to help us pull it off.

We will hold a meeting to discuss next steps with anyone who is willing to help us organize Blossom’s booth and have fun with us!

The meeting will be at 7:30PM on Aug 29th at Blossom . If all of you can help by inviting folks to attend, that would be awesome!

Questions? Call or text Daniel @ 310-704-0999!

Thank you in advance for your help!

Blossom Board

More

Come join us this summer on this exciting, hands-on, four classes workshop with our professional artist Olavo Multini. Learn the basics of some artistic techniques below, plus attend a museum visit (see below). Each class will take 2.5 to 3 hours (light snacks might be provided, but you need to show up to check it out!).

1^st class:  create your own project in Watercolor

2^nd class: marvel at the flexibility and aesthetic beauty of Mosaics

3^rd class: collage techniques, learn to create your own unique and personalized post cards, etc.

4^th class: the group will meet at  LACMA for an exciting afternoon when Olavo will guide us through the basics of the History of Art, the highlights and main names behind each period as well as answer your questions.

Who: everybody is welcome to enroll!  Come explore and expand your own talents and bring friends, family, kids for this fun summer activity!

Where: first three classes at Blossom, last meeting at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art (LACMA).

When: exact class meeting dates and times to be determined, but will include 4 Saturdays or Sundays afternoons during July/August (the sooner we get the participants enrolled, the sooner we start!).

Cost: this event was inspired by the fund raising needs of our Blossom Spiritist Society but the cost is still a steal! $100 for the workshop, including materials. If you bring somebody along or refer, there is a 20% discount for each participant. Tuition is to be paid at sign up time.

We will start on the weekend of September 17^th and classes will run for 4 consecutive Saturdays, until October 8^th. I’ll let you guys figure out the exact time on Saturdays that is best for everyone, but we are trying to shoot for  2 pm as each class will be about 3 hours long. Payment is due on the first day of class so please bring your payment of $100 then.

Let’s make this an awesome event, so we can have fun with other classes/workshops in the future. If you have any questions, please contact me or Olavo, by email or phone.

Thank you all for your support to this new fund-raising initiative and see you all there.

Monica Rossetti

Secretary

Blossom Spiritist Society

(818)312-3099

monicarossetti@hotmail.com

&

Olavo Multini

olavodesign@yahoo.com

Hello Blossom Community!

To this date, we have had 13 donations this year so far! Thank you for taking some of your time to help our community and help us make the world a better place. Although this is a great start and we are happy to say we have made a positive difference in the life of 13 different people, we need your help to get as close as possible to our goal of 100 donations!

Just imagine: you could really make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood! You may even help save a life — and that is no exaggeration!  Think about how powerful that is. You get a chance to literally give of yourself to help others — it is perfectly safe, our own bodies replenish the blood we donate quickly. Here’s yet another validation to Francis of Assisi’s statement that it is really giving that we receive!

You can donate blood, plasma, or platelets — each are very needed! Right now, donors of blood type O- are especially needed! You can read more about donating blood at the Red Cross’ website: http://www.redcrossblood.org/?gclid=CLKMsqynt6kCFUgaQgodVUiK8Q.

How do you help?

Donate blood today! It does not matter where or when. Just go — and if you can, bring a blood donation “sticker” back so we can put it on our news board at Blossom! Have you noticed other  stickers there? Those were earned by your fellow Blossonians who took 1 hour of their day to donate blood to someone in need!

Blossom tries to  donate blood every often. If you would like to go with someone else, contact us! Write to info@blossomss.org and we will try to see if someone else can go with you. As a rule of thumb, we are trying to go every second Saturday of a month — but reservations are generally required for Saturdays!

Help us put Love into practice and transform it into Charity by donating blood!

Dear Blossom Community,

While Blossom continues to struggle financially, we have begun to raise awareness and are making progress! We have seen an increase in monthly donations to about $1100 (up from less than $900) per month.

As I speak with members of our community, I can see that everyone is very concerned about the situation and many are talking about it. Thank you! However, it is important that each and every one of us take action. We must reach a minimum monthly donation level of $1750, so we can keep the doors open.

We each must reflect on the importance of the Blossom community in our lives and make strides to contribute to the best of our ability. I know that each and every person reading this has been touched in a positive way by this wonderful community we call Blossom. Let us work together and take it upon ourselves to ensure we continue to benefit from all Blossom has to offer.

Sincerely,

Wilson Mattos

Financial Director

PS: Contact us today if you would like to pledge a specific amount monthly! Our monthly pledge form can be found here.

Dear Blossom Community & Friends,

In an effort to give back to our community and practice the teachings we learn at Blossom’s study groups, Blossom is holding another Blood Drive on Saturday, May 14th at 11AM.

We have a lofty goal for Blossom: together we want to net 100 blood donations during 2011! Help us achieve this goal!

Currently, we only have 6 donations so far this year. We need your help to catch up! Anyone can participate: bring your friends, co-workers, family members — anyone! If you cannot make it on the 14th, donate blood anywhere, at your convenience, and let us know! It does not matter where you donate — what matters is that you do! Help us make a difference in people’s lives!

Blossom will be going together to the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center on May 14th (Saturday). If you would like to join us or if you have more questions, contact Daniel at 310-704-0999.

Additional Information:

Address:

UCLA Blood & Platelet Center

1045 Gayley Avenue, 2nd Floor

Los Angeles, CA, 90024

If you have any questions about the location or about donating blood, please call (310) 825-0888, #2 or email gotblood@ucla.edu<mailto:gotblood@ucla.edu>.

Parking Information:

Guest parking permit for lot 32. If you need to obtain a guest parking permit at the time of your donation, please park temporarily in the alley behind 1045 Gayley (see directions below) and go upstairs through the glass door.Lot 32/36 is adjacent to the Donor Center. Lot 36 is an outside lot without stairs. NOTE: If you plan to park in either lots 32 or 36, we will need to provide you with a parking pass prior to your donation. Please talk to our staff about this.

Directions to lots 32/36 After exiting the 405 at Wilshire, proceed east on Wilshire to Veteran Avenue. Turn left (north) and go to Kinross, the first street on the right. Turn right on Kinross and go to the entrance of either lot 32 or 36 depending on your parking pass. Leave the pass on your windshield.

Directions:

Driving to the Center From the 405 Freeway, exit at Wilshire Blvd./Westwood. Go east on Wilshire to Gayley Avenue. Turn left (north) on Gayley. The Center is on the left side of the street two blocks north of Wilshire. The building is bright yellow

From the 405 North

*   Exit Wilshire Blvd. East (towards Westwood).

*   Turn left on Gayley Ave. (second light)

*   Make another left on Kinross St. (second light).

From the 405 South

*   Exit Wilshire Blvd East (towards Westwood).

*   Turn left on Gayley Ave. (third light)

*   Make another left on Kinross St. (second light).

Make the first right into the parking structure 32 (a four-level parking structure).

To Access the Center From the Alley: Follow the directions above to get to the center. After turning left onto Kinross, make a quick right unto an alleyway. We are located in the brick building that is halfway up the alley (going north) on the right hand side. Park temporarily behind our building, in one of the four parking spaces. Enter the glass door and walk up the stairs to the second floor Proceed down the hallway until you see the front desk reception area on your left. Ask one of our staff for a guest parking permit and then proceed left down the alleyway (going south). Turn right on Kinross then make the first right into parking structure 32 (a four-level parking structure). Park on the second floor or above.

Please follow the parking instructions carefully to avoid getting a ticket.

Dear Blossom Community,

Because Blossom is an all-volunteer organization in which no one receives pay for the work they perform, your help is extremely important. It is only with the help of our community and members that we can continue to make Blossom possible. Because helping our society financially, we urge you to consider volunteering as well!

Here is a list of current activities and tasks Blossom needs help with:

• Housekeeping – Blossom gets a good, scheduled cleaning every month. It generally takes  2 hours and at least 2 people help. We are looking for volunteers to help us perform this monthly cleaning. Please let us know what your availability is and if you have someone you prefer to work with!

• Housekeeping – help us take the trash out every so often and keep an eye on and replace toiletries as needed.
• Events – We need volunteers to help with fundraising events! Let us know if you are willing and able!

If you would like to help, or have other suggestions, please contact us! We are always happy to hear from you!

On Sunday, April 30th, Blossom’s Voting Members elected a new Board of Directors during our 2011 General Assembly.

As the result of an election that takes place every two years, 4 new Board Members were elected and 1 one position remains vacant. Board President Akemi Adams, Director of Community Relations Daniel Assisi, Treasurer Wil Mattos, and Secretary Monica Rossetti were re-elected until 2013. Former Director of Spiritist Studies Fabiola Salgueiro, who will be moving to Chicago soon, did not seek re-election. Blossom wholeheartedly thanks Fabiola for her leadership in the Spiritist Studies Department for these past years and wishes her continued success in this new exciting phase of her life. Because no other eligible candidates demonstrated interest in the position, the Director of Spiritist Studies position will remain vacant until President Akemi Adams exercises her discretionary powers to appoint a new director.

During the General Assembly, Blossom’s Voting Members also approved Blossom’s accounts for the 2010 Fiscal Year. Treasurer Wil Mattos again reinforced the pressing need for a membership drive as Blossom continues to have a negative monthly cash flow. The new Board agreed to concentrate its efforts onto Blossom’s financial situation in the coming months.

Questions, Comments? Contact us!

UPDATE:

Thank you for your help! With your help and participation, we were able to raise $350 with this event. More importantly, we gained 1 new monthly pledge! Monthly pledges are extremely important for Blossom as it helps us plan ahead as we know what money is coming in to help us pay our fixed expesense.

Thank you for your help and support!

Dear Blossonians,

Don’t miss our first potluck lunch of the year! We will be coming together at Blossom around 1PM to partake in some delicious food and help fundraise for Blossom!

Come help and have fun! Call Gill at 818-378-5084 to let her know what you will be bringing!

See you there!

The General Assembly is a special meeting that takes place once a year. During the General Assembly, Blossom board members report on the state of Blossom to the community at at large. This is a great opportunity to learn more about everything that went on at our society during the past year, as well as to find out what the plans are for the upcoming months. Also, Blossom’s financial statements are presented to those present and Blossom’s Auditing Council renders their opinion on the accuracy and validity of the report.

This General Assembly will be an important one as Finance Director Wil Mattos will go into detail about Blossom’s current difficult financial situation and what members can do to help. Also, voting will take place to elect new board members, which happens every two years. If you would like to run for a position at the Blossom board, please email Daniel (daniel @ blossoms.org) to get the process started.

The General Assembly also gives all members of the Blossom community an opportunity to get to meet other members they don’t see often. Many members take the opportunity to pose questions or make suggestions during the open forum part. Blossom’s board is excited to have this opportunity to talk to and hear from all participants of the Blossom community. Don’t miss it!

Blossom’s 2011 General Assembly will take place at Blossom’s on April 30th at 11AM. The agenda will soon be made available. Check back for more news!