Family of volunteers keeps going

BURBANK — Helping the Burbank community has been a family affair for more than two decades for the Diel family.

Hank Diel, 72, is the treasurer of the Burbank Coordinating Council, which organizes the annual Holiday Basket program. And his five children have all helped with the program for years.

This year is no exception, as the Diels opened their living room to store supplies for the annual Holiday Basket program, which provided more than 500 low-income families with food and gifts. Despite tending to an ailing mother and undergoing chemotherapy for interstitial cystitis, Hank’s wife, Janet Diel, never loses sight of volunteering for the program.

“We’re all dealing with our own problems,” Janet Diel said . “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

The Diels were part of a group of about 35 volunteers who worked at last weekend’s Holiday Basket program. Police officers, firefighters and community members also filled cardboard boxes for families in need last Saturday at Washington Elementary School’s auditorium.

“It was fantastic,” said Burbank Coordinating Council historian Eileen Cobos. “We had a lot of volunteers and a lot of food. The kids are going to have a great Christmas.”

For years, the most active volunteers in the Holiday Basket program were the Gunn and Diel families, said Jason Diel, one of the five Diel children. But early this year, longtime volunteers Patricia and Harry Gunn died, leaving the project short of help, he said.

Janet Diel credits other volunteers for keeping the program alive.

“There’s a heck of a lot of community spirit,” Janet Diel said, “It isn’t just the Diel family and Gunn family, it’s everybody.”

The holiday donations went to more than 500 families who registered to receive a basket through the Burbank Unified School District when they signed up for the free and reduced-price lunch program, Janet Diel said.

“It’s so nice to see different people from the community coming together helping needy families,” Burbank Salvation Army Capt. Claudia Ruiz said. “If more people did this, there wouldn’t be one hungry person for Christmas.”