On the Town: Local residents open their homes for good causes
This past week, two local couples opened their homes to raise funds for two causes — one event was to raise money for the Burbank Arts for All Foundation and the other was to support Providence St. Joseph Medical Center’s Minutes Matter Emergency Services campaign.
Hosted by Chris and Suzanne Weerts, the arts fundraiser featured a program titled “Stories From the Heart.”
Following a buffet dinner and performance by guitarist Peter Skrabak in the backyard of the Weerts’ Rancho District home, almost 100 supporters of the Burbank Arts for All Foundation enjoyed hearing artists of various disciplines share touching, emotional and humorous tales.
The heartfelt stories ran the gamut from a secret high school crush that, many years later, was revealed to have been mutual, to a special shirt that was responsible for an actor both getting and losing a coveted commercial job.
Among those who entertained the assemblage with their stories were Ty France, Lila Silvern, Vicki Juditz, Pat Wilson, Darren Mangler, Pam Bassuk, Robyn Samuels, Beverly Mickins and Mike Lambert.
Along with many representatives from the Burbank Unified School District, those who came out in support of the organization, which works in partnership with the local school district to make sure every child gets a quality arts education, included City Councilman Jess Talamantes, former City Manager Mike Flad, and members of the foundation’s board, including Cathy Stevens, Karen Broderick and Alexandra Helfrich.
From the visual, musical and dramatic arts to the healing arts, Barbara and Justin Adler welcomed supporters of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center to their Toluca Lake home to raise funds for the ongoing Minutes Matter Emergency Services campaign.
The evening, which included a special performance by the synchronized swim team called the Aqualillies, was co-chaired by Judy Angel and Paula Davis and saw more than $3,000 raised for the cause.
Donald and Elizabeth Savant, Erick and Janet McCormack, Caitlin Thompson, Dan Fogelman, Haig Youredjian and Greg Weaver were just some of those who enjoyed the evening and received an update on the status of the five-year campaign that is raising funds to build new state-of-the-art emergency and urgent-care facilities at the local hospital, which serves more than 68,000 people annually.
The campaign’s goal to raise $78 million will build facilities intended to improve triage services in order to reduce wait times, double the number of treatment rooms, which will include isolation rooms, and provide faster diagnostic information to doctors by the use of the latest communications technologies.
To learn more about the emergency services fundraising campaign and find out how to become involved, donate or take a tour of the current emergency facilities and construction, call Angela Khurdajian at the Providence Saint Joseph Foundation at (818) 847-4673.
