AT&T Donates $5,000 to Burbank Boys and Girls Club

This is a regular feature on philanthropic activities by Valley-area business people and companies. Last month AT&T donated $5,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley. The donation was given during a visit made to the organization’s Burbank headquarters on Nov. 22 by boxing champ and president of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar de la Hoya, and Andy Shibley, Los Angeles vice president and general manager of AT&T. The two addressed a crowd of more than 100 young people on the importance of maintaining healthy bodies, good grades and keeping up with technology. Attendees also had an opportunity to view exclusive content from AT&T U-verse, a service offered by AT&T that provides broadband internet access, TV, and phone through a fiber-to-the-node communications network. Bar Association Helps Homeless The San Fernando Valley Bar Association is hosting its annual Blanket the Homeless project, which provides blankets for various local shelters that offer aid to homeless individuals and battered women. Since 1995, the project has provided over 36,000 blankets to local organizations including Children of the Night, MEND, Women’s Care Cottage and Haven Hills. With the help of monetary donations, the association buys anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 dollars worth of blankets each year, said Elizabeth Post, executive director of the SFVBA. Donations are being accepted through the end of the year. This year, the SFVBA will host an event on Dec. 17 in which blankets will be distributed as well as a legal clinic. The event’s location has yet to be confirmed. MEND Host Family Program Pacoima -based nonprofit, MEND- Meet Each Need With Dignity, is urging local businesses, organizations and schools to adopt a family this holiday season. MEND has selected 250 families through a pre-screening process that included home visits. Participants who choose to adopt a family are asked to provide a new sweatshirt or sweater to each member in their assigned family, some toys and clothing for the children, small gifts or household items for the adults and food to complete a holiday meal. Volunteers are to deliver the gift baskets by Dec. 18. “The families we serve have so little,” MEND Program Director Maggie Torres said in a prepared statement. “They work hard and seek to better themselves but these times are very difficult. The community can make such a difference by pitching in to brighten their holidays.” Counseling4Kids Collects Toys Counseling4Kids last month kicked-off its Gifts4Kids annual toy drive. The program collects new and unwrapped toys donated from various local businesses and organizations to provide holiday gifts for more than 500 children in foster care. The Burbank-based organization has collected nearly 300 toys so far and extended the drive through December to reach its goal of 500 donations. Counseling4Kids provides mental health services to abused and neglected children and youth in the foster care system throughout Los Angeles County. “Providing a gift is one way we can help a child in foster care feel loved at a very difficult time of year,” said Clinical Director Dr. Marianne Callahan, in a prepared statement. Valley Motor Center Donates Minivan to Local Non-profit Nonprofit New Horizons last month received a refurbished minivan from Valley Motor Center Autobody. The donation is part of Recycled Rides, created by the National Auto Body Council, which gives used vehicles to needy families and charities nationwide. The nonprofit was presented with its 2006 Toyota Sienna on Nov. 21 at the grand opening of Valley Motor Center newly expanded shop in Van Nuys. — Compiled by Angela Melero