Hollywood Burbank Airport staff and tenants collectively raised over $13,000 for local charities during the 2016 holiday season. The Airport’s Holiday Charity Committee, comprised of Airport staff, held luncheon fundraisers for the Pasadena Police Activities League (PAL) as part of the Airport’s annual holiday charity drive, while the Burbank Airport Firefighters Local I-61 union raised proceeds for the Disney Cancer Center at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The union also collected toys for the Spark of Love Toy Drive Fund, sponsored by ABC7 and Southern California Firefighters.
At the February 6, 2017, meeting of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Commission, representatives from the Holiday Charity Committee presented a check for $7,000 to Lieutenant Tracey Ibarra and Officer Roxanne Haines of PAL. Since 1997, the PAL Center has provided programs and activities designed to enhance the educational, athletic and artistic experiences of young people in Pasadena.
In addition to the funds raised through three charity luncheons and donations from Airport staff, this year’s drive received special support from Airport Authority Commissioner Steve Madison of Pasadena; TBI Airport Management, Inc., the Airport’s management company; and Airport tenants Hudson Group Retail Specialists, Davies Skycap Services, Inc., Million Air, SP+, HSS, Atlantic Aviation and Desmond’s Studio Production Services. Metropolitan Culinary Services Burbank (MCS) donated the food and goods for the fundraising luncheons.
The Pasadena Police Activities League is the sixth recipient of the Airport’s annual Holiday Charity Committee fundraising efforts. Each year, the Airport Authority selects a charity from one of the three Authority member cities to receive donations. Past recipients include Ascencia and Glendale Youth Alliance in 2015, the Burbank Coordinating Council in 2014, the Pasadena Union Station Homeless Services in 2013, the Glendale Salvation Army in 2012 and the Burbank Temporary Aid Center in 2011.
In October 2016, the Burbank Airport Firefighters Local I-61 union sold T-shirts in-terminal and online to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness month. The union raised $6,000, with all proceeds donated to the Disney Cancer Center at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.
In November and December 2016, the union hosted an in-terminal toy drive for the fourth annual Spark of Love Toy Drive Fund. The campaign, supported by efforts from Airport passengers and the Airport Police Department, collected over 300 new, unwrapped toys for underserved children and teenagers in the local region and helped benefit the California Community Foundation.
