Community Commentary:

It has come to my attention, through numerous sources, that Burbank resident Rose Prouser has raised some questions regarding the Memorial Stadium and Burbank High School athletic fields rebuilding fundraising campaign (“School field construction date finalized,” Feb. 27).

It is the sole intent of this all-volunteer committee to attempt to bridge the financing gap that has been identified by the Burbank Unified School District and the city of Burbank. At the request of both elected bodies, our mission is to go out to the community at large and raise the awareness of the projects, and raise $1 million.

I hope that the following question-answer series will satisfy your request for information and/or project clarification.

Q. Are the fundraisers being paid?

A. No. Every member of the committee is a volunteer. Plus, we have many individuals and service clubs that are out and among the citizenry that are also soliciting funds. They are also not being paid by or through this committee or this campaign effort.

Q. What are the administrative costs incurred by the public fundraising project?

A. As the chairman of this campaign, I am not aware of any administrative costs. Our volunteer body solicits the funds, deposits them into a bank account at the Burbank City Federal Credit Union and does not touch those funds.

Q. Is all of the money that is being donated going to the project?

A. Yes. Only when the city or Burbank Unified School District makes a request for the funds to be disbursed will any of those funds be released. However, if and when there are expenses related to the posters or printing materials, promotion or any other costs related to raising these funds, the committee will have a report to them requesting those funds and a vote to release them.

To date, all of the marketing expertise and materials have been donated. I would like to point out that some local businesses have already saved us from any expenses for the campaign so far. Buddy’s All Stars produced all of the artwork for the logo. Davis Nos has printed all of the full-color posters (hundreds of them) and the black-and-white and color donation cards (thousands of them) at no cost to the campaign.

Q. Can the public attend the committee meetings?

A. Yes. However, it would be greatly appreciated if they played a positive part in the campaign as well. Every attendee to date has been a priceless contributor to this effort in his or her time, talent and treasure. Active participants are welcome.