Kirk Douglas samples the turkey gravy as his wife Anne Douglass laughs at the Los Angeles Mission on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. The Douglas', longtime advocates for the L.A. Mission, were among several celebrities who served a Thanksgiving meal to several hundred homeless. All photos credit: Tim Berger for Brand X

On Thanksgiving, locals and celebs lent a hand at the Los Angeles Mission, serving up hundreds of meals to those who otherwise would have gone without. More shots after the jump >>

HOLIDAY GUIDE 2010: The holidays are more than just turkey and awkward encounters with far-off relatives. It's also the season for giving. Of course, others have the same idea. “The holidays tend to be very popular; from November to January; [we see an] increase of interest as far as serving,” says Reena De Asis, L.A. Works' director of marking. “Everyone wants to serve meals and be at the soup kitchen … [and volunteers] complain about just standing around and don't feel needed.”

We've rounded up some do-it-yourself opportunities and online options to do good this season and avoid the holiday rush.

Make a match

L.A. Works is like Match.com, hooking up nonprofits and volunteers. “I like to think of us as the hub for volunteer opportunities,” says De Asis. “We want to make volunteering easy and accessible.”

L.A. Works partners with more than 700 nonprofits, and much like Match, users create an account and sign up for any of the 90-plus volunteer opportunities listed each month on L.A. Works' online calendar. Volunteers can pick events based on location, time commitment or impact area, like homelessness, environment or education.

If you prefer larger events, L.A. Works on Jan. 17 will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the MLK Jr. Day of Service. Some 1,000 volunteers will renovate schools for low-income students by painting murals, planting and landscaping. www.laworks.com

More opportunities after the jump >>

Halloween is this weekend. And if you're anything like us, that Lady Gaga meat costume just didn't pan out.

Gina Elise — producer and star of Pin Ups for Vets, an old-school pinup calendar for charity — offers cheap costume advice with '40s flair.

“I always loved the romance of those bygone eras … and the World War II pinup girls, whose photos boosted morale for our soldiers overseas,” says Elise.

The 28-year-old Angeleno has taken her love of retro and turned it into a full-time fundraiser by posing in tiny dresses and lingerie of all kinds for her one-woman calendar.

Now in its fifth year, Pin Ups for Vets has raised $35,000 for military hospitals and rehabilitation programs for vets, and her 2011 calendar is available online (www.pinupsforvets.com) for $10. (She also sells T-shirts, posters and, for a more personal touch, life-size cutouts, and donates all the proceeds).

More than a calendar girl, Elise goes on the road visiting hospitalized veterans across the country to bring a little old-fashioned cheer.

Elise says with $50 and a trip to the drug store and a second-hand clothing shop, you can transform yourself into a Halloween calendar girl. Here are her tips for a DIY pinup costume -- after the jump >>

Hollywood has a new online cause. In response to the recent string of teen suicides, celebrities, bloggers and thousands of others have mobilized through online video, blogging and social media to tell queer teens they are not alone.

This September, several teenagers committed suicide as a result of homophobic bullying — including Tyler Clementi, 18; Billy Lucas, 15; Asher Brown, 13; and Seth Walsh, 13 — and in the online world, there's been an outpouring of emotional support.

Dan Savage, a popular sex columnist who launched the online video campaign called the “It Gets Better Project,” has received an overwhelming response from people wanting to get involved and spread the message that “it gets better.”

The ubiquity of social media allowed Savage to do something he says he couldn't do in person. Continue reading >>

We’ve done plenty of gushing about Charlyne Yi, but today she gets extra kudos. In late September, videographers from the gossip-machine TMZ asked to film the “Paper Heart” star as she canvassed for the international relief organization Oxfam.

In an effort to shed light on third world famine, Yi granted TMZ interview and allowed them to capture some fundraising and advocacy she was doing in Santa Monica.

In a Tumblr post titled “Compromising my beliefs: TMZ is the Devil,” Yi explains the footage: “They said to make a big scene so they’d have something to film, since people walking by were not really responding to talking and it could look exciting -- so I started yelling,” she writes.

What she didn’t count on was TMZ snipping the footage to poke fun at Yi and the charity. When she saw their edited version, replete with snarky, bullpen derision of her and Oxfam, she decided to make her own expose (above).

While getting TMZ’d (can we make that a verb?) can be a career-breaker, Yi used the betrayal as fuel to whip up a video which is now making its way around the interwebs. TMZ is left looking like a bully who picks on well-meaning drama kids and Oxfam gets more exposure. Looks like a victory for Yi.

Check out our cover story about Ms. Yi out Wednesday.

--Alie Ward

NBC's "School Pride," a new show due this fall from the producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," has been giving a few lucky Los Angeles schools a much-needed makeover this summer -- and the work comes to an end today and tomorrow at Hollenbeck Middle School. The Boyle Heights school is the final institution to receive the show's transformative powers, but it needs your help for "School Pride" to work its TV magic: Students return tomorrow, and volunteers are needed for the finishing touches to the big reveal.

"There will be people around the clock," show co-host Jacob Soboroff said. "Whether you want to paint or do landscaping or do cleanup -- just about everything needs to be done."

He added that the show is less about the makeover and more about communities coming together to take charge of their schools in a time of multimillion-dollar budget deficits.

"This isn't a contest, it's not a prize," he said. "We're providing the materials, but it's the people that have the power to transform their school. They are increasing the chance that they will have the brighter future."

The show premieres on NBC on Oct. 15, with seven schools -- including Enterprise Middle School in Compton and Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in the Mid-City area -- receiving the treatment (despite initial objections from LAUSD). The difference the show and its volunteers have made, Soboroff said, has been inspiring.

"This school hasn't been painted in 40 years," he said of Hollenbeck. "The school's going to be 100 years old in a couple years and it feels like a new school.

"What I am going to remember forever about doing this project, these people are letting us into their lives. You can see what this is doing for them. These are tough times for the economy, Los Angeles, but also education in particular," he continued. "What I've learned is we can all really pitch in and lend a hand."

Those interested in helping at Hollenbeck today and tomorrow can visit SchoolPrideVolunteers.com to sign up.

-- David Greenwald

It never ceases to amaze me how difficult it can be to get some businesses to do the right thing. Donating leftover food is a good example.

More than 14 million Americans were out of work as of last month. The national unemployment rate is 9.3%; California's jobless rate is a staggering 12.3%.

Yet as families everywhere struggle to get by, officials and businesses are still dithering over how to get unwanted food to shelters, food pantries and other resources for the down and out.

Continue reading after the jump...

How do you save endangered species? By dancing. Nonlife Zoo is an exhibit involving animal-themed artwork, from tiny plush birds to human-size antelope dolls, and Royal/T is staging a dance party with cocktails, vegetarian fare and a DJ set by Daedalus. Press materials describe the animal sculptures as having “cuddly and colorful appearances, yet with conflicting emotionless expressions as if they are silently expressing their call for help.” But before you get too bummed, remember that your drinking soju and doing the Robot helps out animal charities.

Royal/T, 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City; 8 p.m.; $10

--Alie Ward

Video: Footage of "The Mad Tea Party" event, held at Royal/T in 2009.

If you've ever wanted to party with your pants off for a good cause, tonight's the night. Playhouse Hollywood is celebrating National Underwear Day -- an actual semi-holiday since 2003 with a website and everything, in case your boss gets curious tomorrow -- with free admission and a sponsored (read: open) vodka bar until 11 p.m. tonight. If, that is, you show up in your skivvies. For every attendee willing to strip down, the venue will donate $5 to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation. The DJ Reach-soundtracked fun starts at 10 p.m. -- e-mail thursdays@playhousehollywood.com to RSVP.

Playhouse Hollywood, 6506 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles; 10 p.m.; free (in your underwear).

-- David Greenwald

Photo: The interior of Playhouse Hollywood. Credit: Drew Ressler

The dancing crowd at Sea No Evil, a Riverside art show benefitting Sea Shepherd Conservation Society at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium.

The pun in Sea No Evil is the key to what this fundraiser is all about: protecting marine life. The July 31 event at Riverside Municipal Auditorium was headlined by Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and focus of the Animal Planet series “Whale Wars,” who was featured speaker. DJs pumping up the volume included artist Shepard Fairey, actress Michelle Rodriguez (“Avatar”) and the Crystal Method. A silent auction of more than 60 works helped raise funds for Sea Shepherd.

All photographs by Robyn Von Swank for the Times.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson forgoes the water for an evening of art and music on land.

Artist Shepard Fairey DJs at Sea No Evil.

See more photos after the jump...