ON THE TOWN:

While Burbank has staked its claim as both the media capital of the world and a city that offers an excellent quality of life for residents, the faltering economy has slapped us with the cruel reality that even prosper- ous cities are not immune to job loss, home foreclosures and homelessness.

Supporters of Family Promise of the East San Fernando Valley, who are diligently working to help local families whose lives have been devastated by losing their homes, got a firsthand understanding of what homelessness is like this weekend.

The parking lot of Burbank’s First Presbyterian Church was the setting for the inaugural Cardboard Box City fundraiser in which the organization raised money and awareness by thinking outside the box and leasing space to participants who then took overnight shelter inside a cardboard box.

The organization’s president, Jenny Smith, and her committee comprised of Sherri Cowen, Diane Cripe, Tammi DeMasters, Harold Jordan, Beth Marcus, Deena McCarthy, Bob Nicol, Marsha Ramos and Linda Taylor planned and coordinated the 15-hour event that included entertainment, games, activities and a soup dinner.

A coalition of local churches and temples committed to helping homeless families is working to provide shelter and jobs in Burbank and throughout the East Valley.

Modeled after the national Family Promise organization, the local chapter will assist families in transition by providing lodging, meals, basic essentials, a mailing address, finances and a base for employment searches.

The group will begin providing this service next year thanks to the help of the Burbank City Council who approved the use of a Naomi Street apartment building owned by the Burbank Housing Corp.

While it is the simple brown box that is traditionally used by the homeless to shelter themselves from the elements, those who participated in Saturday’s event added a bit of creativity to their cardboard castles, designing and building them as everything from tiki huts and stardust fairy lairs to, believe it or not, the White House.

Among those who participated were the Rev. Ross Purdy of the First Presbyterian Church of Burbank, Ryan Buckley, Liam Howard, Jackie Perez, Tony Simone, Debi Felser, Dianna Briggs, Desiree Martinez, Brittany Lewis, Jacque Yap, Danielle Lester, John, Paul and Mary Cutone, Wendy and Liam Stackhouse, Bert Emmett, Ashley McClure, Richard and Kristy Zemaitis, Sean Albro, Xavier Stolarz-Bauer, Burbank Senior Planner Barbara Lazar, Family Service Agency of Burbank Executive Director Laurie Bleick, Ann-Marie Murrell who serves as the director of children’s ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of Burbank, and swashbuckling pirates Michael Vanderwyst, Natalie Hsieh and Gowrie Hayden of Burbank’s Swordplay Fencing Studio.

 DAVID LAURELL at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.