DONORS PITCH IN TO HELP SCHOOL.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

GLENDALE - When thieves stole $3,700 from Disney Elementary School, Principal Linda Reksten could barely bring herself to tell the students they'd lost the money they had raised to buy art supplies.

But Reksten couldn't wait to share the news Thursday that City Cab, the Burbank Police Association and the Firefighters Union and an anonymous donor had teamed up to reimburse the stolen money.

``This certainly gave me a lot of hope for mankind,'' Reksten said. ``There are far more people in the community that want to help than you realize.''

Last week, Reksten discovered that the $3,707 students had raised through Valentine's Day candy sales had been stolen from a locked school cabinet.

When Burbank Police Association President Darin Ryburn heard the news, he took it upon himself to make sure the money was replaced.

``It was just very special because these kids went out door to door and sold chocolate, collecting money for their art department. Because of that, we want to show the kids that we applaud their efforts,'' Ryburn said.

Ryburn contacted Firefighters Union President Lew Stone and a representative of City Cab - and each of the three groups donated $1,000 to make up the lost funds. An anonymous individual from the community also donated $500, Reksten said.

And one kindergartner donated the contents of his piggy bank - $10 - because he felt so bad about what had happened to his school, Reksten said.