Showing care with feet, hoofs and heels
This past week saw Burbankers kick up their charitable and caring spirit by walking the Chandler Bikeway, enjoying a Western-themed horse show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and strutting the fashion catwalk to benefit the charities of Temple Emanu El.
Supporters of the Family Service Agency of Burbank took to the Chandler Bikeway for the organization’s fourth annual Care Walk on April 30. Following a welcoming ceremony conducted by the event’s co-chairs, Eric Hansen and Mickey DePalo, Mayor Anja Reinke, in one of her last official duties, counted down the beginning of the 5K walk.
“The schools and School Supt. Stan Carrizosa got very involved with this year’s walk,” said agency Executive Director Laurie Bleick. “With their help we had over 300 pre-registrants.”
Among the volunteers and participants who made the walk a success were former Mayor Michael Hastings, former City Manager Mary Alvord and Chris Khron who serves as the principal of the Burbank Community Day School. Others on hand included Janice Lowers, Barry Gussow, Yasmine Wolfe, Terri Stein and Pat Smola.
Proceeds from this year’s Care Walk will help fund the agency’s no-cost counseling program provided at 18 Burbank schools. These services are vital in helping young people address issues such as depression, parental loss, eating disorders, cutting, substance abuse, child abuse, family violence, divorce and bullying.
As the sun began to dip on that day, local resident joined hundreds of area supporters at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center for the 21st annual Hollywood Horse Show. Hosted by actor William Shatner and his wife, Elizabeth, the event began with a world-class reining competition in which riders guide horses through a pattern of circles, spins and stops, followed by dinner and a musical performance by Sheryl Crow.
Among the special guests and locals on hand were actress Valerie Bertinelli and her husband, Tim Vitale, Tim Behunin, Lana Borzak, Marc and Jazz Monroe, William Cunningham, Phil Englander, Harry Gold, Robert Klapper, Johan and Lynn Shane, Sue Bacon, Pam Gomez, Donald Petrie and Benjamin Thomas.
This annual event raises funds for Ahead with Horses, which works with disabled children and Glendale’s Camp Max Straus that provides recreational activities for underserved children.
The following afternoon saw more than 130 congregants of the Burbank Temple Emanu El gather at their Glenoaks Boulevard complex for a boutique, luncheon and fashion show. Presented under the theme, “Summer in the City,” Sunday’s fundraiser was co-chaired by Tobi Lippman and Philleen Meskin who oversaw their committee comprised of the temple’s sisterhood members Betty Kalkin, Evie Cowan, Joan Kagan, Arline Hammer, Roz Feldman, Susan Grodsky and Laura Snow.
Temple members who donned fashions, hats and heels and took to the catwalk as models included Joan Kagan, Wendy and Natalie Hauptman, Anita Pressman, Daniella Chernack, Victoria Kapper, Laurel Pulvers, Michele Varon, Susan Grodsky, Ruth Bader, Enid Robbins, Rebecca Chernack and Amy Varon-Jackson.
The proceeds from this year’s fashion show will benefit charitable organizations that have been embraced by the synagogue including the Burbank Temporary Aid Center and Family Promise.