The LA2050 team – along with many friends from the nonprofit and social impact community – gathered together on April 23rd and April 24th at Booth #153, at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

“Bookchella,” as it’s informally known, is the annual west coast literary extravaganza that takes place on the USC campus. Hundreds of authors participate in panel discussions, book readings, and signings, while throngs of Angelenos and visitors alike of all ages attend these events, as well as listen to live music and poetry readings at outdoor stages, eat at food trucks, and browse the scores of booths spread out across campus that house publishers, booksellers, individual authors, and organizations such as ours.

During the two days, more than 800 of you stopped by our booth and cast your votes for the issues that matter to you, the theme of our ongoing LA2050 Grants Challenge.

(Voting continues through May 6th at 11:59pm. Please click here to vote today! Voting takes two minutes and ultimately leads to our granting $1 million to 15 social impact organizations, based on the choices you make.)

Many of you – and your dogs! – posed for photos in front of our “We Care About” backdrop, as you held up signs that declared which issues matter most to you (see photos, above). And, we distributed 500 (actual) wildflower seed bookmarks.

We were also happy to share space in booth #153 with some of our recent grantees. Joining us over the weekend and meeting the public and talking about their important work were: Los Fotos Project, Clinica Romero, Jenesse Center, SAJE South LA, LA Forward, DIY Girls, The Civics Center, LA City Parks, and Mi Mentor.

Other recent LA2050 grantees and project collaborators were likewise prominent at the Book Fest. This includes Dublab, 826, Homeboy Industries, and Los Angeles Review of Books, each of whom had their own booths; and USC Professor Amara Aguilar, who moderated a panel discussion. (Prof. Aguilar’s students last semester made short videos with six of our grantees. Watch those videos here.)

RELATED: Vote today in the LA2050 Grants Challenge! Voting ends May 6th at 11:59pm.