Burbank Noon Rotary Casino Night Fundraiser April 18

The Burbank Noon Rotary Club is turning the Burbank Association of Realtors into a casino floor this Saturday, and the cause behind the chips and cards is anything but a gamble.

Casino Night runs from 6 p.m. on April 18 at 2006 W. Magnolia Blvd., second floor. Tickets are $150, and the money goes straight to the Burbank Noon Rotary Foundation, which funds scholarships for local students, literacy programs, and international health and sanitation work. Poker, blackjack, and roulette will all be on the floor.

Not a bad lineup for a Tuesday night. Well, a Saturday.

The sponsorship roster reads like a roll call of Burbank civic life. The Burbank Association of Realtors stepped up twice, offering both the venue and a top-tier Poker Sponsorship. That’s a meaningful double commitment from an organization that’s been tied to Magnolia Park for years. Longtime Rotary member Kevin Knapp and his wife Marina also signed on as Poker Sponsors, as did current club secretary Lynn Lipinski and member Steve Arakawa.

Blackjack Sponsorships went to two very different Burbank institutions. The Road Kings of Burbank, the car club that’s practically synonymous with the city’s old-school car culture, will both sponsor the blackjack tables and run the bar for the evening. College Help Squad, a local college admissions consulting firm co-founded by Burbank Noon Rotary President Cynthia Wagner, rounds out that tier.

The Roulette level drew the heaviest community firepower. Albert and Elizabeth Hernandez of HomeAgain LA are roulette sponsors. Albert is a past president of the club and a past Rotary District Governor, which means he’s spent serious time in the organizational trenches of one of the world’s largest service networks. The Volpei Gussow Real Estate Group joined at that level too. So did the Burbank Sunrise Rotary Club, showing cross-club solidarity. Dr. and Mrs. Keith Sanneman and the Akuin family round out the roulette tier.

Then there’s Jessa Markham. Current Member of the Month. Past club president. Roulette sponsor, alongside her husband Jared. That’s a lot of titles for one person, and the kind of involvement that keeps a service club healthy year after year.

The thing is, Casino Night events like this one do real work. Rotary International’s local clubs funnel fundraiser dollars into both neighborhood programs and global health initiatives, and the Burbank Noon chapter has a track record of delivering on both fronts. Scholarships go to local kids. Literacy programs touch families in the community. The international work connects Burbank to places far outside the San Fernando Valley.

This event has the feel of a genuine community night rather than a formal gala. The Road Kings managing the bar, poker tables sponsored by people whose names you’d recognize at a city council meeting, a real estate association doubling as a casino. Casual enough to be fun. Organized enough to get the job done.

MyBurbank first reported the full sponsor list earlier this week, and the depth of local business support stands out even by Burbank standards.

Tickets are still available at $150 each, and sponsorship slots haven’t all been claimed. Anyone interested can get details and purchase directly through the club’s event page at burbanknoonrotary.org. The Burbank Association of Realtors building is a short walk from the heart of Magnolia Park, easy to find for anyone who’s spent time on that stretch of the boulevard.

April is a busy month for community events, but this one has real stakes. The foundation money supports work that doesn’t stop when the night does. Scholarships get awarded. Programs get funded. And a bunch of Burbank residents get to sit down at a poker table for a few hours with people who care about the same city they do.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Saturday at 2006 W. Magnolia Blvd., second floor. Bring $150 and don’t fold early.