Making a list

Paul Clinton

MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- When the holidays roll around and charity

requests begin to pour into Warner Bros., they inevitably find their way

to Anna Parra’s desk.

Parra, the studio’s community relations representative, gets letters

from all over -- Burbank, Minnesota and even countries abroad.

The letters deluge her with requests for food, toys, clothing, videos

and other Warner Bros. merchandise. Some just ask for money.

The studio can’t answer all the requests, of course. There are just

too many. But Parra said Warner Bros. does what it can.

This year, the studio’s major charity event was a one-day carnival for

children from Southland community groups. Held at the Warner Bros. Ranch

Dec. 12, members of three Burbank organizations -- Boys and Girls Club of

Burbank, YMCA of Burbank and the Burbank Outreach Center -- rode a Ferris

wheel, scarfed hot dogs and shook hands with Bugs Bunny.

“To see the faces on the kids,” Parra said. “It was magical.”

Also at the carnival, Parra presented more than $12,500 in food

donations to Burbank Temporary Aid Center, executive director Patty

Reardon said.

“They’re there for us during the holiday season,” Reardon said.

“They’re very generous in their support.”

In addition to the food drive, the studio put toy bins in the lobby of

each building on its Burbank lot. Many of the toys that accumulated --

yes, there were quite a few Pokemon trading cards -- were given to Toys

for Tots, a U.S. Marines-run drive founded by a former Warner Bros.

employee.

Parra worked to coordinate both efforts.

Among the requests sent to Warner Bros. each year, Parra always gets a

few out-of-the-way ones.

Recently, she got a letter from a child in India who wanted a signed

picture of Scooby Doo.

But most of her requests are of the more pedestrian variety.

“It’s pretty generic stuff,” Parra said. “We haven’t had anything

odd.”

Before working for Burbank’s oldest studio, the 33-year-old Parra

spent three years as a regional director for the American Heart

Association. Before that, she worked as a field representative for state

Sen. Hilda Solis (D-La Puente).

Parra said she views her job as putting a human face to a corporate

giant.

“It’s reaching out to the community,” Parra said. “It’s a direct

link.”