Since its incorporation as a California non-profit organization in 1993, The Robert and Nalini Lasiewicz Foundation has launched, funded or provided organizational assistance for a variety of charitable causes. The Foundation seeks to address social ills, facilitate dialog, and engage in projects that promote education, democracy, peace, personal health, community and civic engagement. We have supported and promoted dozens of projects and programs and strive to provide opportunities for people to support worthwhile programs. 

CURRENT PROGRAM (2024)

Model Community Noise Ordinance for Pickleball. 

Over the past few years a growing form of noise pollution has entered the public sphere.  Residents are finding themselves in conflict with local HOA boards, private clubs, municipal and county Planning and Parks & Recreation departments as pickleball advocates have set unrealistic standards for where pickleball courts should be sited. Across North America, local neighborhood tennis and sports courts are being converted into regional outdoor pickleball centers, and local codes and zoning regulations are not providing protection from the harmful impacts of the noise generated by the sport. 

The nature of the noise and the fact that legal codes and ordinances are not protecting those living within close proximity has exposed thousands of individuals to physical and psychological harm. In response to this growing public health crises we have launched a collaboration with experts to recommend specific prohibitions and conditional use provisions to overcome the enforcement problems associated with outdated noise regulations.  We will publish free regulatory tools for agencies faced with noise control issues as Phase I of the program. We are also gathering resources and building online tools for residents, attornies, medical practitioners, engineers and others in Phase II of the program.

To make a tax-deductible donation to our pickleball noise relief campaign:

PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=SD36MYAACV6LA or 

GoFundMe:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-fund-noise-pollution-control

We are grateful for our collaboration with Les Blomberg of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse.  Special thanks, as well, to the members of the Pickleball Noise Relief group on Facebook for their support and contributions.  

"The air into which second-hand noise is emitted and on which it travels is a "commons," a public good. It belongs to no one person or group, but to everyone. People, businesses, and organizations, therefore, do not have unlimited rights to broadcast noise as they please, as if the effects of noise were limited only to their private property. On the contrary, they have an obligation to use the commons in ways that are compatible with or do not detract from other uses."

-- Les Blomberg, Noise Pollution Clearinghouse

PREVIOUS PROJECTS INCLUDE...

Crossroads of Music, an early childhood music education program was created in partnership with the Whittier, CA school district and Glendale Community College. The in-service program utilized a win-win Mentor/Student structure to provide high quality music education for elementary students and training for future music teachers at the same time. College interns earned money and received classroom experience assisting the K-6th students under the mentorship of a master music teacher. The combined funding of the school district, the parent association and grants from the Lasiewicz Foundation demonstrated a successful formula for delivering after-school programs during a period when arts and music education had experienced drastic cuts across the state.

The Lasiewicz Foundation has also been active promoting civic engagement by supporting projects and programs in Los Angeles through our Neighborhoods Now project. We have organized community meetings on Redistricting, Neighborhood Watch and the formation of the Los Angeles Network of Neighborhood Councils. Other projects have included the Winter Warm-Up relief in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, to benefit the homeless during winter months. For several years, the Foundation provided outreach and administrative help in setting up the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and worked closely with the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation to launch regional meetings between Park Advisory Boards, in order to share best practices in local participation with youth programs and stimulate successful public/private partnerships.

The primary focus during our early launch was projects that promoted human rights, youth programs and refugee assistance during the war in former Yugoslavia. Our programs included Bosnia Briefings, a research and information service that brought news from the war zone to US media outlets and Convoy Bosnia, assisting NGO's and aid workers in the field in seeking grants from U.S. donors. Funding was developed through a variety of outreach programs, including a film screening of "The Eyes of Bosnia" and the national Arts & Entertainment broadcast of "Mozart's Requiem" war-time documentary, filmed in the bombed out Sarajevo Museum. Matching grants and individual donations were collected for aid organizations and distributed by the Lasiewicz Foundation. Our early and ongoing support for March 8th, International Women's Day  (IWD) grew from those early years of the war in Bosnia.  We have collected an archive of historical documents and artifacts celebrating the history of IWD worldwide and display them at public events to spread awareness of the effort to enshrine this day into permanent recognition in the United States of America.

If you would like to learn more about our team or have a project seeking support, feel free to call or submit a message using the form below. I look forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

Nalini Lasiewicz

Executive Director

Bob Lasiewicz

Board Member