BURBANK : Run for Hungry Attracts Bigger Field

An extra 300 to 400 pair of feet are expected to be pounding the streets for the seventh annual Run for the Hungry on Saturday, but organizers did not predict more donations.

“At this stage, because of these economic times, I don’t think we’ll be doing much better,” said Sunder Ramani, chairman of Run for the Hungry ’93. Ramani predicted 1,600 to 1,700 runners. Last year, the event drew 1,300 participants.

The event has raised an average of $50,000 in each of the past three years, Ramani said. Runners are asked to bring cans of food. Last year, about $5,000 worth of canned food was collected.

The American Red Cross also will share the proceeds for the first time along with the traditional beneficiaries, the Salvation Army and the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, which provides food and emergency housing for the homeless.

Ramani said that more schools and corporate entrants helped boost participation in the 5K race this year. Corporate donations, $2,000 for each company, account for a large amount of the donations.

The event includes three runs--a 5-kilometer masters race for men and women over 40 at 8 a.m., another 5K for any age at 8:30 a.m., and a one-mile “Munchkin Mile” at 9:15 a.m. for children under 12.

“They’ll feel good because they’re running for a good cause,” said Cherie Combs, executive director of the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, who said donations are down this year.

The runs begin at Johnny Carson Park and head south on Bob Hope Drive to Riverside Drive. The preregistration fee is $11 and $14 with a T-shirt. Preregistration for the Munchkin Mile is $9. On the day of the run, all fees go up $3.

“What we have told the Run for the Hungry is we will specifically restrict the funds raised for use in disaster services and they will stay here in Burbank,” said Gay Weston, executive director of the Burbank chapter of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross share of the money raised would be used to pay for food, clothing, rent or motel rooms for disaster victims as well as blankets, cots and other equipment.