Thousands of volunteers fanned out across Los Angeles Sunday for the annual clean-up and community service day, with officials estimating that the number might exceed the target of 25,000.

"We've run out of T-shirts," quipped David Levinson, a screenwriter who founded the community service project eight years ago and is now billing it as the biggest in the United States.

More than 10,000 people signed up for the event via the internet and another 12,000 signed up through the city, Deputy Mayor Larry Frank said, adding he believed the actual turn-out would be still higher.

"It's a day where we have a chance to build partnerships with community organizations and individuals all over the city," Frank said. "There's more work in the city than the city can do on its own. It's really about getting everybody participating to make the city work."

The Big Sunday program was a communal effort from the top-down to beautify the city and help the needy.

About 250 events were planned for the day around the city, with volunteers removing graffiti, painting, picking up trash and planting trees.

Across the city, volunteers and public employees joined together, revamping senior homes, removing graffiti and painting city schools, and preparing kits for the city's homeless and pregnant teens.

Big Sunday started in 1999 and was initially called "Mitzvah Day," or human kindness day, a name coined by Levinson and his synagogue in Hollywood.

The program soon grew to include other religions and community organizations, including New Horizons School, an Islamic school.

Major corporate sponsors include Toyota, Disney and Paramount Pictures, which have contributed cash to the program's 650,000-U.S. dollar budget.

Source: Xinhua