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2 | JANUARY 02, 2013 - january 08, 2014
1,400 families receive food, kids' gifts at Foothill Unity Center 21st Annual Holiday Distribution
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- Photo by Terry Miller
Baldwin Park January 6 – “Winter Wonderland Crafts” at the Arts and Recreation Center (14403B East Pacific Ave.) from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Free. Call (626) 2141601.
bellaserenata.com January 8 – Adults 55 years old and above can join a day trip to see the Space Shuttle. Trip leaves from the Joslyn Adult Center (1301 W. Olive Ave.) at 9 a.m. Cost: $47. Includes an IMAX double feature.
Glendale
Burbank January 4 – “Serenata” holiday concert and party at the St. Eleanor Hall/Bellarmine at Jefferson High School (465 E. Olive Ave.) from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Free. See www.
composer Sharon Farber, conductor Maestro Frank Fetta, and cellist Ruslan Biryukov, Tickets $15 to $100. See www.glendalephil.com January 9 – Author Susan Beilby Magee will present “Into the Light: The Healing Art of Kalman Aron,” at the Glendale Library Auditorium (222 East Harvard St.) at 7 p.m. Free. Artist Kalman Aron is an artist from Latvia who survived four years in a Holocaust concentration camp exchanging portraits of guards for morsels of food. Aron today resides in Los Angeles.
January 5 – The Glendale Philharmonic presents “Positive Motions” concert series at the First Baptist Church of Glendale (209 N. Louise St.) at 4 p.m. with narrator Emo Philips,
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-Photo by Terry Miller
1,400 Foothill Unity Center lowincome families, including more than 1,700 children, received a helping of cheer at the Center's 21st Annual Holiday Distribution, held Saturday and Monday, December 21 and 23. The event was held in Ayers Hall at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia (Saturday) and at the Center's Monrovia and Pasadena locations (Monday). Clients came from across the agency's elevencity service area Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Baldwin Park and Irwindale. Families and individuals took home holiday food boxes sized by number of people in the family, with meat and the makings for a festive holiday dinner. Some 600700 volunteers worked the program, from planning and preparation to final cleanup. Each client was personally escorted through the distribution by a dedicated cart volunteer. Simplicity Bank, Volunteer Center of the San Gabriel Valley and The Gas Co. all presented $1,000 checks to the Center in support of the event. On the Saturday distribution at the Arboretum, reserved for families with children, each family also took home an opaque bag prepacked with new toys and clothing for each child. The presents are donated via the Center's Adopt an Angel program, where individuals and groups adopt paper angels handdecorated by volunteers from schools, churches and other groups. Each angel lists a child's gift wishes.
"We don't give the presents directly to the children," says Center Executive Director Betty McWilliams. "Each family's gifts are gathered in an opaque bag and given to the parents to wrap and give as part of their own holiday traditions." Ducommun Aero Structures also donated 35 bicycles to be raffled at the distribution, and Simply Help gave gifts to each child. Children also enjoyed fun activities, including a holiday craft project with the help of elves from Paint 'n Play, and had their pictures taken with Santa courtesy LA PartyWorks, with frames provided by the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women. While a majority of the Center's clients are employed, all have incomes at or below 150% of the National Poverty Level. This year, that's $1,436 per month for one person and $2,944 a month for a family of four. "The holidays are an especially difficult time for families who fight hunger every day," says Center Executive Director Betty McWilliams. "The difficult economy and cuts in the CalFresh food stamp program are swelling the ranks of local people who need help to feed their families. Community support is more vital than ever to help them and let them know that their neighbors really do care." Funds in support of the Center's programs may be donated securely online at foothillunitycenter. org. Food and checks may be dropped off weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at either Center location: 415 W. Chestnut Ave. in Mon-
rovia or 191 N. Oak Ave. in Pasadena. Just part of a yearlong hunger fight The Holiday Distribution is only one aspect of the Center's yearround Family Food Program, which provided over 3.6 million pounds of groceries to foodinsecure clients last year. Each month, clients receive a grocery cart of food items, sized by number of people in the family to supplement needs for 710 days. They may return to pick up perishable food items once a week, including fresh produce, dairy and baked goods. The Center also delivers monthly food packages to qualified homebound senior and disabled clients, and gives 50 to 60 substantial bag lunches (enough for about two days) three times a week to homeless or those who have no place to store or cook food. Its volunteerrun Pet Food Bank helped 726 families keep their pets last year. The Center also provides referrals to over 100 organizations for crisis and housing assistance, employment counseling, and much more. Its Health Services Child Health Connection program connects children with urgent health care needs to free and lowcost care, helps uninsured clients enroll for lowcost insurance coverage, and conducts health screenings and education seminars. It also operates a Medical Outreach Clinic in partnership with the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (ChapCare) providing health and dental care to homeless and uninsured adult clients.