Now in its 70th year, Burbank holiday basket program is in need of donors and volunteers
Janet Diel, president of the Burbank Coordinating Council, smiling in the center, moves among a crush of volunteers in a small room stacked nearly to the ceiling with donated grocery items that the volunteers are assembling into Holiday Baskets at the Little White Chapel in Burbank, in this file photo taken on Dec. 11, 2013.
With the holidays just around the corner, the Burbank Coordinating Council is putting out a call for volunteers to help with its annual holiday basket program.
Now in its 70th year, the council is more in need of volunteers and donors than ever before because it has set its sights on helping more than 550 families this year, said Janet Diel, president of the nonprofit.
The organization will host its first Spirit of Giving luncheon on Nov. 4 at the First Presbyterian Church, 521 E. Olive Ave., Burbank.
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Individual tickets are $50 and sponsorship levels range from $250 to $1,000, Diel said.
“We’re less expensive that any of the other events in town,” she said. “We’re doing the very best we can.”
Though raising funds is important to buy the supplies needed for each basket, Diel said that donors and volunteers are an important part of the program.
Diel said that she is looking for folks who are willing to adopt a family and buy the supplies and goods for their basket.
“If a family wants to adopt a family or two for us, that’s a family that we don’t have to worry about finding things for,” she said.
For those who cannot take on making a holiday basket for an entire family, Diel said the nonprofit is looking for people to donate food, toiletries and toys so that the Coordinating Council can assemble baskets.
Diel said gift cards can also be donated, and they are great gifts for choosy teens.
“We have a very hard time with teenagers because you never know what Mary, Suzy or Bobby want,” she said. “They’re hard to buy for, even if they’re your child. Sometimes the easiest thing is to go to the [Burbank] Town Center and get them a gift card.”
However, what Diel and the Coordinating Council need the most is volunteers to help in December when the organization starts putting together the holiday baskets and distributes them to families.
The nonprofit will host a food drive on Dec. 10 and start organizing the goods on Dec. 14. The baskets will then be delivered on Dec. 16.
“We need a tremendous number of volunteers to help us,” Diel said. “The faster we can get it out to the families, the better it is.”
For more information about volunteering with the Burbank Coordinating Council, visit burbankcoordinatingcouncil.org.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
