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Warner Bros. helps the arts
The money raised for the Burbank Arts Foundation will help bring arts and music to schools in the city.
By Rachel Kane
MEDIA DISTRICT — The Burbank Arts Foundation is underway, having received its first promised endowment from Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The $300,000 from Warner Bros. will be donated in three yearly installments of equal amounts and go toward the total goal of $10 million for the foundation's principal endowment, said Joel Shapiro, Burbank Unified School District deputy superintendent.
"You can see that they've made quite a commitment to helping us move this foundation along," Shapiro said. "We have a very lofty goal. We want a multi-million-dollar endowment."
The education foundation is the newest part of the district's Arts for All program, a plan adopted in 2004 to rejuvenate the arts in Burbank schools.
"The goal, of course, is to raise money that can be used to supplement money that comes out of the district budget as well as any money that comes from the state," Shapiro said. "We can't count on money for the arts directly from the state to be sustained."
This first donation is the starting point for a to-be-determined fundraising timeline that ends with $10 million in the bank that should collect anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000 in interest every year to be spent on arts education in Burbank schools, said Michelle Crozier, board chair and vice president, Corporate Responsibility at Warner Bros.
In the meantime, any donations made to the foundation will have 60% put away to contribute to the ultimate goal of $10 million, and the other 40% will be spent on new programs, supplies, instruments and teachers for the district's arts education.
Even though district officials plan to spend 40% of all the donations eventually, there are no plans to allocate any funds this year, Shapiro said.
"But I think we're off to a very good start," he said.
With 15 board members, made up of business leaders — including representatives from the Walt Disney Co., Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. — and city and school officials, the arts foundation is poised to garner donations from most of the major entertainment outlets in the city.
"We really wanted this Warner Bros. gift to kick it off and set the bar," Crozier said. "We haven't started asking [for donations] publicly yet. We have a few companies that are involved. There are some board-member companies that will definitely be making contributions."
Crozier added that the foundation board does plan to set up at least one large fundraising event centered around performances from students in the district.
They are currently in the process of deciding on a time frame and location for the event in the coming year, but Crozier said the event would definitely focus on the students and their artistic skills.
The program is a good place for the Warner Bros. donation, said Lisa Rawlins, senior vice president, Studio and Production Affairs for Warner Bros.
"The arts component of this is such a good match for us as a company in this town," Rawlins said. "It ultimately creates an environment in which students have an opportunity to grow in the arts and we hope, one day, come to work for companies like ours."
The district will present an open forum at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Burbank High School Library about the Arts for All program and the Burbank Arts Education Foundation.
Parents, teachers and community members are welcome to attend, Crozier said.
The $300,000 from Warner Bros. will be donated in three yearly installments of equal amounts and go toward the total goal of $10 million for the foundation's principal endowment, said Joel Shapiro, Burbank Unified School District deputy superintendent.
"You can see that they've made quite a commitment to helping us move this foundation along," Shapiro said. "We have a very lofty goal. We want a multi-million-dollar endowment."
The education foundation is the newest part of the district's Arts for All program, a plan adopted in 2004 to rejuvenate the arts in Burbank schools.
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This first donation is the starting point for a to-be-determined fundraising timeline that ends with $10 million in the bank that should collect anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000 in interest every year to be spent on arts education in Burbank schools, said Michelle Crozier, board chair and vice president, Corporate Responsibility at Warner Bros.
In the meantime, any donations made to the foundation will have 60% put away to contribute to the ultimate goal of $10 million, and the other 40% will be spent on new programs, supplies, instruments and teachers for the district's arts education.
Even though district officials plan to spend 40% of all the donations eventually, there are no plans to allocate any funds this year, Shapiro said.
"But I think we're off to a very good start," he said.
With 15 board members, made up of business leaders — including representatives from the Walt Disney Co., Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. — and city and school officials, the arts foundation is poised to garner donations from most of the major entertainment outlets in the city.
"We really wanted this Warner Bros. gift to kick it off and set the bar," Crozier said. "We haven't started asking [for donations] publicly yet. We have a few companies that are involved. There are some board-member companies that will definitely be making contributions."
Crozier added that the foundation board does plan to set up at least one large fundraising event centered around performances from students in the district.
They are currently in the process of deciding on a time frame and location for the event in the coming year, but Crozier said the event would definitely focus on the students and their artistic skills.
The program is a good place for the Warner Bros. donation, said Lisa Rawlins, senior vice president, Studio and Production Affairs for Warner Bros.
"The arts component of this is such a good match for us as a company in this town," Rawlins said. "It ultimately creates an environment in which students have an opportunity to grow in the arts and we hope, one day, come to work for companies like ours."
The district will present an open forum at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Burbank High School Library about the Arts for All program and the Burbank Arts Education Foundation.
Parents, teachers and community members are welcome to attend, Crozier said.
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