On the Town: YWCA postpones Legacy Luncheon, using digital outreach to contact supporters
YWCA Glendale raises a large part of the resources it needs to help its growing number of clients who are domestic-violence victims through its 23rd annual Legacy Luncheon.
Due to the coronavirus, the luncheon has been postponed until June 11. Even that date is “tentative,” according to Heather Masterton, Legacy Luncheon event consultant and producer.
Masterton and the luncheon committee have devised a unique solution to raising some of the funds the luncheon would usually bring in.
The outreach to YWCA supporters is digital. A program of what would have taken place at the luncheon is being emailed to supporters who have donated money in the past and to potential supporters.
The seven luncheon honorees, now digitized, are Ani Torosyan, chief executive and co-founder of DishDivvy, a homemade food-delivery service; Hasmik Burushyan, community outreach coordinator with the Glendale Armenian American Grassroots Advocacy, ANCA; Monica Campagna, green team captain at Franklin Elementary and core member of the Glendale Environmental Coalition; Phyllis Kim, executive director of Comfort Women Action for Redress and Education, or CARE; Suzanne Weerts, Burbank Arts Commissioner; Tamika Farr, executive director of El Centro de Amistad; and Teresa Rivera, mental health supervisor with the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
Also emailed to supporters will be a speech written by Suzonne and Randy Slaughter, selected for special recognition at the postponed luncheon.
Suzonne Slaughter is the owner of California Financial Works. She is also a past president of both the YWCA Glendale board and the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Women’s Council.
Randy Slaughter is president of Kiwanis Club of Glendale. He is also a Vietnam War veteran and a member of the Evan Survivors Assn.
On April 15, the original date for the luncheon, clips of the honorees will be posted on social media. Included will be remarks from Michele Yi, the 2020 Cami’s Courage Scholarship recipient.
There is plenty more the YWCA staff is doing in response to the virus. Since the YWCA is classified as an essential business under the Safe at Home order for the state and county, its domestic shelter remains open.
All 24-hour services — the emergency shelter and confidential hot line — remain available. Community services such as counseling, legal and case management will be shifted to Zoom, an online video-conferencing platform, and phone calls.
The YWCA’s Lending Library box on the corner of Lexington Drive and Geneva Street will now function as a food pantry. It will be stocked daily, Monday through Thursday.
Contactless food donation drop-offs may be left at the YWCA’s front door, 735 E. Lexington Drive. Cleaning products will also be accepted.
A weekly curbside pickup of groceries for families in the Door of Hope’s shelter program is now available. Door of Hope is the local domestic-violence transitional shelter partner with the YWCA.
To make a contactless, nonperishable item donation, call (818) 242-4155 to schedule a drop-off.
Additional steps to protect clients, staff and community include other key cancellations or postponements. The Stand Against Racism Roundtable event, slated for April 28, is canceled. The Stand Against Racism online/social media campaign will continue during the week of April 23 through 26.
“We continue to work around the clock to ensure that survivors have safe shelter and the supportive services they need to leave violent relationships,” according to Tara Peterson, the YWCA’s executive director.
“Our Legacy Luncheon is our largest fundraiser of the year and a key source of revenue to support our work. With postponing the event, and potentially having to cancel it, we will be calling on our beloved community to support us with financial donations that will allow us to rise to this unprecedented moment this is a moment where domestic violence is escalating and the need for our work is more important than ever,” she added.
Good News — The Armenian Relief Society has just donated food from its pantry to the YWCA.
“Thanks to our generous donors to date, we have purchased over $4,000 worth of food,” Peterson said. “We will feed approximately 30 families a week.”
All YWCA clients with questions are encouraged to call (888) 999-7511.
