February 7, 2002
Marathon vs. Phone-a-Thon
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From the beginning, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles knew when it scheduled this year's Super Sunday event on Mar. 3, that the phone-a-thon fundraiser would take place on the same day as the annual L.A. Marathon.
"At the time," said Rachel Kaufman, the general chair of this year's Super Sunday phone-a-thon, "it was supposed to go straight up Fairfax, and they changed one tiny little stretch of the route."
That tiny little stretch, as it turned out, was soon redirected so that all 30,000 participants will now run right past 6505 Wilshire Blvd., The Federation's headquarters and Super Sunday's primary fundraising site. The course was changed this year so that it would be flatter, to encourage more marathoners to join.
Kaufman said that there was never any attempt to alter the route from passing by 6505, because there was never a question of access to the building being blocked.
"Our government relations department spoke to City Hall, the Department of Transportation and the LAPD," Kaufman said, "to come up with some ways to use this to our advantage."
Each year, The Federation utilizes a remote parking location, rather than on-site parking at the headquarters. The solution: The Federation has moved its remote parking location several blocks west rather than east. This year's remote parking location will be at 8383 Wilshire Blvd., where Nibblers restaurant is located.
Ultimately, the L.A. Marathon will end by mid-afternoon, and the street will be open again by 2:15 p.m. Super Sunday, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., will take advantage of the (pun intended) overlap.
Kaufman said, "We'll have Power Bars and sports drinks, so there'll be a little bit of a tie in."
