On the Town: Aktion Club keeps busy raising funds
Members of the Burbank Kiwanis Aktion Club were on a roll Sunday as they gathered at the Pickwick Bowl for the club’s fourth annual bowl-a-thon fundraiser.
Aktion Club members, participants and guests were welcomed to Pickwick by the organizing committee made up of Jan Loporchio, Tony and Donna Wade and Stephanie Franklin.
Following a hot-dog lunch, Aktion Club members took to the lanes to compete for trophies and to raise funds. The proceeds from Sunday’s event are used for travel and registration costs for club members who represent Burbank at the annual Aktion Convention and Camp.
Chartered in 2004, the Burbank Aktion Club is made up of adults who live with developmental disabilities. The local chapter is one of more than 200 international Aktion Clubs, first organized in 1987 in Florida.
With the assistance of fellow Kiwanians, the Aktion Club concept spread throughout Florida and eventually the world. The Aktion Club became an officially sponsored program of Kiwanis International in October 2000.
Among the Aktion Club members who participated in Sunday’s bowl-a-thon were Michael Riley, Danny and Joey Harris and Ricky Hernandez.
Others whose support and attendance helped make the event a success included Ken Marinace, Jim and Jen Torres, Rob and Cynde Bost, Isabel Adams, Ron and Mirta Rothacher, Ted Martinez, Rick Tropasso, Tom and Julie Strasser, Woodrow and Alanna Lee, Helen Lopez, Ian Shovestull, Phil Jue, Steve Harris, Burbank Kiwanis Aktion Club President Gabriel Pacheco, Daisy Duong, who serves as the vice president of the Burbank High School Key Club, and Bruce Lilly, who is the current president of the Burbank Noon Kiwanis Club.
The Burbank Aktion Club is a chapter of clubs established in seven countries that allow adults living with disabilities to develop initiative and leadership skills through hands-on service.
Once skills are developed, members are expected to return service to their local communities and are encouraged to apply the Golden Rule on a daily basis and with all relationships. Their mission is to promote high social, business and professional standards as well as the formation of enduring friendships, and the dignity and value of citizens living with disabilities to render unselfish service to build better communities.
As Sunday’s event got underway, members of the Burbank Kiwanis for Fun Foundation wasted no time in promoting their next fundraiser — the group’s 15th annual car show, that will take place at Johnny Carson Park on April 27.
Along with serving up Tony Wade’s famous pancakes, this popular annual fundraiser, that will run from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., gives participants the opportunity to peruse hundreds of classic cars and motorcycles while enjoying musical entertainment, food booths and the wares of local arts and crafts vendors.
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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
