AID MAKES HOLIDAYS BRIGHTER NEEDY FAMILIES GET DONATIONS OF TOYS AND FOOD.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - The Burbank Temporary Aid Center was crowded Tuesday with donated goods piled into shopping carts and Christmas trees lined up outside the front door ready to go to needy families.

But volunteers at the nonprofit social service agency were happy to trade breathing space for the opportunity to help all the families they can. By Christmas, the center will have delivered 275 gift and food packages to parents without the means to buy toys for their children or have a turkey dinner on Christmas.

Executive Director Barbara Howell, who joined the organization in March, said she was impressed with how generous local companies and residents have been.

``They told me it was going to be busy, but nothing they told me prepared me for the actual frenzy,'' Howell said.

Among those stopping by the center Tuesday to receive aid was Vilma Duran, 45, who picked up three large plastic bags with turkey and other food, toys, coloring books, shoes, clothing and more. Duran and her three young children are homeless and have recently been living in parks or hotels.

The family hopes to move into an apartment at the beginning of the year, and Duran said she was grateful for the gifts.

``Very happy. My children tell me they want many things, that they want Barbies, an apartment, a TV, movies, a VCR,'' she said.

Some of the families coming to the agency for help this holiday season have been homeless and some are working poor. Some recipients manage to make it through the year without aid but, come Christmastime, put their pride aside so they can provide gifts for their children, Howell said.

In addition to giving complete food and gift packages to the 275 families, the agency also gave dinner provisions to about 25 families and helped an association of Burbank community groups provide gifts for about 50 more families.

Showing a bag of gifts that volunteers assembled for a 7-year-old boy who asked for toy cars and balls, Howell noted the boy also got books, a dinosaur board game, stuffed toys, clothing and other items, all of it new and valued at about $100. The food packages come with such items as turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables and pancake mix and are each valued at about $50.

Some of the biggest donors this year were the Burbank Fire Department through its Spark of Love toy drive, the company Entertainment Partners and a Lutheran church in Sun Valley, Howell said.

The center also relies on volunteers such as Matt Sorrenti, 19, who spends about 20 hours a week at the center and is studying at Los Angeles Valley College.

``I've just been coming here for so long, it's become like a kind of daily routine for me,'' Sorrenti said.

He added that his friends tell him the work would leave them depressed, but Sorrenti avoids that by focusing on his job instead of how needy those using the center may be.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com