Club Profile

• Official Club Name: The Friendship Force of Los Angeles (FFLA)

• Closest Major Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Burbank, Ontario, Long Beach, and John Wayne-Santa Ana airports also serve Los Angeles.

• Cost of transportation between the airport and the city (based on 20 people): Exchange Hosts greet their Ambassadors at the airport and bring them to their homes without charge.  There are airport buses going to Van Nuys, South Bay, West L.A., and Hollywood as well as vans such as Prime Time shuttle to many areas.  Taxis from the airport can vary in price by distance traveled from $20 to West L.A. to $150 to part of the valley.

• Maximum number of ambassadors the club can host: 30

• About the club: The Friendship Force of Los Angeles (FFLA) was founded in 1985 with only 14 members and presently has about 190 members.  We like to host two incoming exchanges and two outgoing foreign exchanges each year.  Presently, we have one domestic exchange each year.
  Most of our members live in the Westside and San Fernando Valley areas of Los Angeles.  However, we have members throughout Los Angeles County, and a few from adjacent Ventura County, which is northwest of Los Angeles.

• About the region: Los Angeles is the core of Southern California, a region of over 20 million people. FFLA works closely with clubs in Santa Barbara, Orange County, and San Diego County as well as Las Vegas and Kern County to better serve the area.
  Los Angeles, noted for its diversity, has the largest Latino and Asian populations of any North American city.  Among the nations represented in the Los Angeles area are Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Russia, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel.

• About the exchange: Los Angeles has many treats for visitors.  For a typical exchange in spring or summer, ambassadors will enjoy an evening at the Hollywood Bowl, dinner at the Farmer’s Market, a day at Venice Beach or at Santa Monica pier.  Visits to Universal Studio or Disneyland are popular year-round.  Downtown tours, which include the new Walt Disney Concert Hall, Music Center, Cathedral, Olvera Street and Grand Central Market, are popular.  Visits to the Getty Museum, Beverly Hills and Hollywood’s new Kodak Center which includes Mann Chinese Theater, attract many as well as the L.A. Arboretum, Descanso Gardens and Huntington Library and Gardens.  Our terrain is unique with palm trees lining the streets, the Santa Monica Mountains on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.  The climate is mild year-round with about 14 inches of rain a year.  Sports enthusiasts can play tennis, football, baseball and can bike, sail, golf and hike outdoors most of the year.

http://ff-la.org