In honor of Martin Luther King,Jr. some residents of the Adam's Point neighborhood did a trash pickup at Lakeview School and around their streets and along Lake Merritt.

Mayor Jean Quan is bringing her organizing skills to City Hall.

The mayor has issued a city-wide call for residents to volunteer in their communities and she is working with local organizations and regional agencies to get Oaklanders to donate free time toward improving the city.

On Nov. 6, Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth, or MISSSEY, held its first event at the Layover Lounge in order to raise funds to send a young group of survivors to Peru as part of the Advocacy delegation on Human Trafficking in June.

Nola Brantley, the executive director of MISSSEY, spoke with Oakland Local about the success of their first fundraising event.

It’s no coincidence that the largest room at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul building is the dining room. In an organization where 1,000 meals are served a day, the poor are no longer just being fed, they are also learning to cook and become great chefs.

Four times a year the Society - or SVdP - on 23rd Avenue accepts 20 standout individuals dealing with various levels of distress into its culinary academy and job placement program. Twelve weeks, 400 instruction hours and 30 tests later, the Kitchen of Champions Culinary Academy graduates “lean, mean cooking machines.”

The class of December 2010 is no different.

Moving is hard; moving with animals is harder.

Craigslist lets you search for dog- and cat-friendly rentals, but what about squirrels, raccoons, fawns and opossums? That’s a feature Lila Travis, founder and director of the Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue Center, could use right now.

The Mural Site Coordinator is one of the most important ways to support the development of our up and coming program, the Community Rejuvenation Project. 

Habitat for Humanity East Bay invites community members in Alameda and Contra Costa counties to don a hard hat and swing a hammer to help build homes with Bay Area limited-income families.

Oakland residents have the chance to spend Saturday making the city cleaner, greener and more livable.

For those who are handy with a hammer, or even those who aren't, Rebuilding Together Oakland could use help with home repairs on its April 10, 11, 17 and 18 workdays.

Oakland Local is 3 months old and we need some help!

Volunteers will tidy up Grand Avenue on Sunday Apr. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The clean-up is one of many organized by the Grand Lake Improvement and Beautification Committee.

Vice Mayor Jean Quan is looking for your help to find this year's "Local Heroes," volunteers who've devoted themselves to projects ranging from recycling and beautification efforts to running a bike shop as an alternative to violence and bringing the love of bugs to kids.