As late as last week, the annual Fourth of July fireworks show at the Joint Forces Training Base was on the verge of cancellation. In fact, at the Los Alamitos City council meeting last month, the city cancelled the show unless residents donated the $15,000 needed to cover the city’s costs of the event. Last week, the donations were few and far between and it looked as if the show would not go on. In stepped local philanthropist Kenneth M Brandyberry, of Rossmoor.
At the City Council meeting on 3/15/2010, the council voted to tentatively cancel the fireworks show. (See related article below.) The city gave residents until April 15 to make donations to cover the costs. If the money did not come in, the cancellation would automatically become final.
At the council meeting this Monday, April 5, the fireworks show was not on the agenda, but it certainly was on the people’s minds. The residents came to the meeting in force to protest the cancellation of the show and they all prepared to take the council to task over the intended cancellation. Mr. Brandyberry was in the crowd and he wanted to be the first to talk.
Brandyberry told www.OC180NEWS.com “the place was packed with a lot of people who were very, very upset. They wanted to express their feelings –how they felt—how can you dare to take this away--we’ve been having it for 22 years, how can you dare take this away from us?” He continued “I knew why these people were there and they were very hostile and I wanted to nip it before they really started screaming at the council.
Brandyberry, who was the third person to speak, began by thanking the community for supporting his fundraising on behalf of Casa Youth Shelter. “Then I went on to telling the council it would be an absolute shame if we took the fireworks away from this community. It’s just one great holiday that we need to have here.” After the council confirmed that they needed the $15,000 to let the show go on, Brandyberry said “Then I said, well—right here I have a cashiers check from me to the City of Los Alamitos for fifteen thousand dollars.”
The room went wild with a standing ovation for Mr. Brandyberry. He said “The house came down—the people all stood up, clapping—even the council. They jumped to their feet clapping. Then I presented them with the check and we took pictures and stuff like that. It was quite the moment.”
Quite the moment in deed. City Manager Jeffrey L. Stewart told www.OC180NEWS.com “I think it’s an unbelievable show of community support and I can’t be more thankful for Mr. Brandyberry’s generous gift. Nobody had any indication it was coming forward, so we were certainly pleasantly surprised—flabbergasted.”
As Director of Recreation & Community Services for the City of Los Alamitos, Angie Avery has responsibility for the Fourth of July fireworks event. She told www.OC180NEWS.com “We’re thrilled—thrilled beyond belief because this hits the fundraising we have to do to host the event. We’re there—we meet our goal.” She added “Given the number of days left ‘til the fifteenth, and the amount of donations that were coming in, and the size of donations that were coming in, it was unlikely that we were going to hit that target.” She explained that now, the city could end up with a surplus of “a few hundred dollars.”
Stewart indicated the last official council action on the fireworks show was to cancel the event unless donations were received. But, since they now have the money, no further formal action is needed. Stewart said “The show goes on. It’s our plan to move forward. We’re talking to the City of Cypress now {which partners with Los Alamitos for the event} and starting to work with the military to move forward with the July Fourth event.”
Living in the community for 47 years, Mr. Brandyberry owned The Starting Gate for 27 years and Mr. B’s which he opened in 1990. He has since sold those businesses, but remains very active supporting his favorite charity, Casa Youth Shelter.
Brandyberry made the contribution to the city as a thank you for the support the community has given to his fundraising for Casa Youth Shelter. He said “I love this city and they do so much for Casa Youth Shelter—I just absolutely love Casa Youth Shelter.” Mr. Brandyberry and his wife Donna have one son, who is fifty years old and they have no grandchildren. Brandyberry said “These kids just need so much help now-a-days.”
And, a lot of help Mr. Brandyberry provides—over $750,000 during more than 20 years of fundraising events. Casa Youth Shelter Executive Director Luciann Maulhardt said “He came to see the shelter and he was impressed with what we did, the kids we serve, the families we helped--and he said I really want to do something.” That was more than twenty years ago and he has been raising money for the shelter ever since.
“He spends Christmas morning with us here at the shelter with the kids, he does a huge ‘Party of the Year’ in his backyard for the Casa kids, he just raised almost $7,000 at Valentino’s Pizza for the Casa kids, and he made his car the float for the parade for the Casa kids—there’s not a lot he doesn’t do,” said Maulhardt. “Kenny has driven kids to the prom in his big fancy car when we’ve had kids that have never gone to a fancy dance before, Kenny has volunteered to drive them—he just does wonderful stuff for us, he’s an amazing, amazing man.”
One of Mr. Brandyberry’s major fundraisers is his annual “Party of the Year” which this year will be June 27, 2010. All are invited to share the day at his Rossmoor home and enjoy bar-b-queue, miniature golf, prizes, auctions and drawings. The donation to join in the fun is only $35.00 and every dime goes to Casa Youth Shelter. Mr. Brandyberry pays the $7,000 event costs out of his own pocket. If you want to support this event, just go to the home of Kenny and Donna Brandyberry on June 27, 2010, 12856 Martha Ann Dr in Rossmoor.
“We are a temporary home for kids 12 to 17, kids who have been on the street, abandoned, abused, and neglected. We provide shelter, food, counseling, and reunification services for kids and families,” said Maulhardt. “This organization is 80% privately funded and Kenny is a huge part of that.” She continued “Even in times of tragedy, as we have gone through during the last couple of years, we were able to continue to provide services. Not one child—not one family—was turned away. We never had to close our doors, we never had to turn away kids, because we had good people like Kenny that were here to support us.”
www.OC180NEWS salutes Kenny Brandyberry.
