Foundation Vows To Help Fund Fields

Foundation vows to help fund fields


group will give the largest donation yet toward the effort to replace athletic facilities at city high schools.

By Chris Wiebe
Burbank Leader, April 22, 2008

Health Care Foundation has promised $200,000 to a campaign to fill a $1-million budget shortfall to replace athletic fields at Burbank and John Burroughs high schools. The donation from the foundation — a grant-giving group that provides financial assistance to nonprofit organizations — marks the most sizable contribution put toward the fields to date, after the fundraising campaign kicked off in November.

“The health of the community is our business,” said Sunder Ramani, chairman of the grants committee for the foundation. “On any given twilight evening, you’ll see how many citizens in the community are out there using the facilities. It isn’t just a high school field; it is a community field.”

In a show of appreciation for the contribution, school district officials will put a link to the Burbank Health Care Foundation’s website on the Burbank Unified School District’s website, Supt. Greg Bowman said.The foundation owned and operated the former Burbank Community Hospital, until it was sold in 1990 and then used the proceeds from that sale to assist community organizations that cater to health-related needs. Programs at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank YMCA and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have received foundation funds, Ramani said.

Replacing the athletic fields at both schools was propelled into the public eye last year, as school officials and community members complained that the deteriorating, 50-year-fields were in desperate need of repair. During a joint school board-City Council meeting in October, the council pledged $6 million to help the district install synthetic, all-weather tracks at Burroughs and Burbank, but officials anticipated that there would be a shortfall of $1 million. The total cost of the proposed project was put at about $11 million in April, but officials have not nailed down a definitive price tag.

Numerous parents, students, coaches, players and alumni from both schools promised to conduct an independent fundraising to bridge the gap. The campaign received its first boost in March, when the Burbank Education Foundation put $10,000 toward the budget shortfall. The most recent donation brings fundraising totals to date to $243,405, said Jan Britz, assistant superintendent of instructional services.“It helps bring us to the 25% point almost, so that’s a big deal for us,” she said.

In February, school officials set a project timeline, with construction at Burbank High School scheduled to begin Sept. 15, in order to not conflict with the school’s centennial celebration.Construction at Burroughs, which will also include a renovation of the stadium, will begin at the completion of the Burbank project, projected for February 2009. The Burroughs project is targeting an April 2010 completion date.