LOS ANGELES -- A large group of wives and girlfriends of Dodgers players, coaches and broadcasters volunteered for a day of service Wednesday at the Downtown Women's Center, pitching in to help homeless women of the Los Angeles community.
After a quick tour of the facility, the women went to work, preparing a meal for the day, sorting donated clothing and assembling snack packs for the center's women to receive as they leave.
"They're really being involved, and it's a really great way they're giving back to the community. We're really thrilled to have them here," said Bianca Dobrikovic, the DWC's director of institutional giving. "As you know, ending homelessness is no small feat, so it really does take an entire community to come together and give back to really end homelessness for women."
The DWC has aimed to end homelessness for women in Los Angeles since it was founded in 1978. It features 119 apartments and several programs meant to connect women with permanent housing and jobs.
Per its website, the Day Center annually provides 110,000 meals, 20,000 showers and 3,000 loads of laundry for local women. That comes thanks to donations and the help of around 5,000 volunteers per year, according to Dobrikovic.
For a day, that group of volunteers included family of the Dodgers' organization. As she prepared corn in the Center's kitchen, Ellen Kershaw, wife of Clayton Kershaw, expressed pride in how the group came together to do good, and said that Wednesday wouldn't be the only time they work to give back to the Los Angeles community.
"We're getting to look out as we're cooking and seeing the women that we're getting to serve, and that's a really special thing, to see first-hand the impact that we're getting to make," Kershaw said. "Also just to realize the need that's in L.A. I think that sometime just going back and forth to Dodger Stadium, it's easy to miss this part of town where there really is so much need. There's so much opportunity to serve."