From the Mayor's Desk: July 18, 2025

The tremendous contributions and quality service from City of Cerritos staff to our community is on display daily. Key partners in these efforts are the hundreds of City volunteers who elevate how we serve through their time, commitment, and customer service. 

This past Monday, I was honored to join our staff and my City Council colleagues at our annual volunteer recognition dinner. We are incredibly proud of our dedicated volunteers with the Cerritos Library, Cerritos Sheriff’s Station, Cerritos Senior Center at Pat Nixon Park, and Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. In 2024, volunteers across these areas generously contributed 17,000-plus hours of service, a nearly $570,000 value to our City. 

This work is not only valuable, but it also directly aligns with multiple Cerritos Strategic Goals: Enhance Public Safety and Ensure Continued Excellence in Community Programming. Our City cannot achieve our goals without the support of these dedicated individuals, who have been called to serve and are passionate about making a difference in the lives of others and our community as a whole. 

We would like to thank the volunteers from the Cerritos Senior Center, whose compassion and commitment support our seniors. They assisted at special events, served lunches, packed meals for home delivery, and led classes, among other activities. To the Friends of the Cerritos Library, we appreciate their time to ensure quality and robust Library programs. This includes staffing the Friends Bookstore, organizing fundraiser events, and sponsoring contests for our youth. We’re grateful for safer neighborhoods. This is supported in part by Volunteers on Patrol (VOPs), who serve the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station by conducting security checks and working special events. To our Arts Ambassadors, we are thankful for their time supporting activities at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. They assist with checking and collecting patron tickets, escorting them to their seats, and contributing to several City and community events. 

Our wonderful volunteers represent multiple generations of Cerritos residents and community advocates. On July 10, the Cerritos City Council honored Cerritos Library teen volunteers at the Volunteen Stan Awards. Thank you to these individuals who shelved books, monitored workstations in the children’s area, worked in the Friends Bookstore, and helped with multiple Library programs. 

City of Cerritos volunteers are clearly making a difference in our community, which reverberates across our region. In the words of the late Margaret Mead, an anthropologist and humanitarian: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” 

For more information about volunteering with the City of Cerritos, please contact City Hall at 562-860-0311.