On the Town: Betting big on a club’s continued success
While supporters of the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley did their best to conceal the fates and fortunes they had been dealt, they did nothing to hide their enthusiasm for the youth organization that staged their annual Texas Hold’em and Bingo Tournament on the campus of Woodbury University this past Friday evening.
Following a buffet dinner in the university’s New Woody’s Cafe, the poker-faced assemblage was welcomed by the club’s chief executive, Shanna Warren, for their participation and support. “We are very grateful for your continued support to this event, and everything we do to serve the youth of our community and region,” Warren said.
Always garnering a robust turnout, this annual fundraiser has joined ranks with the club’s yearly gala as a vital component to their revenue-building strategy. Among the more notable card-holding expressionless faces in attendance on Friday were Parks, Recreation and Community Services Board member Barry Gussow, Burbank Police Commissioner Nat Rubinfeld and his wife, Alma, former City Treasurer Donna Anderson, Burbank Temporary Aid Center Executive Director Barbara Howell and Keller Williams Realtor Karen Volpei. Others who spent the evening tangling with lady luck for the cause included Michael Forbes, Dean Shelby, Pat Augustine, Jack Reardon, Cheryl Davis, Claudia Bonis and Linda Riha.
Along with Anja Kloch, who serves as the club’s chief development officer and the organization’s director of operations, Brittany Vaughan, last week’s fundraiser was also made possible with the assistance of club staff members Mira Shah, Lianne DePino, Luisa Gomez, Jay “Jax” Jackson, Jose “Giovanni” Quiroz, Julio Herrera and Sherry Delizia.
Others who made the evening possible were Leena Mathew and Sherine Anderson who respectively serve as the president and vice president of the club’s board of directors, Board Secretary Jami Rice, Resource Development Chair Dan Stillwell, Board Development Chair Michael Walbrecht and directors Armond Aghakhanian, Dave Augustine, Michelle Bouse, Lorrie Copeland, Ron Davis, Michael Dragan, Jeffrey Garavanian, Sally Knutson, Kevin McCarney, Darin Ryburn, Nicolette Schwartz, Sofia Sedrakian, Al Shapiro, Tom Steele, Lynn White Shelby, Robin Tarufelli, Emilio Urioste Jr. and Albert Yagubyan.
Since 1995, the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley has had a positive effect on more than 4,000 children, teens and their families.
Having grown from serving 75 members at their home base on Buena Vista Street, today the club serves over 1,150 youth at 16 sites throughout Burbank.
For more information on the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley and their upcoming events, including their 2013 gala, which will be a Monopoly-themed evening honoring Hasbro Corp. to be held on May 10 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport, call (818) 842-9333 or visit their website at bgcburbank.org.
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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
