Service clubs scramble to help charities

Organizers at service clubs in Thousand Oaks are making plans to help local charities fill the fundraising gap left by the cancellation of Conejo Valley Days for 2009.

The Kiwanis Club is in the process of planning a parade, and the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club will host the chili cook-off.

"We're going to do it (the cook-off) in conjunction with the city's Arbor Day celebration on (Sat.) April 25, with a concert that evening and the chili cook-off on Sunday, (April 26)," said Susan Murata, the cook-off chairperson.

The chili cookoff was always a Rotary Club event done in conjunction with CVD, she said. This year the club will partner with the city's Arbor Day celebration and focus on families.

"We're going to have an expanded kids' area," Murata said.

Family friendly activities will include bingo, horseshoes and volleyball, she said.

The group is inviting other service organizations and charities to join them. The Rotary Club knows CVD has been a major fundraiser for charities and wants to work with them; groups are welcome to set up booths during the chili cook-off, Murata said.

The cookoff, which usually nets around $30,000 to $40,000 a year, helps dozens of local charities, including Westminster Free Clinic, Senior Concerns, Many Mansions and the YMCA, she said.

The Rotary Club is looking for sponsorships and groups that would like to participate. Those interested can contact Murata at susan.murata @silverstarauto.com.

Kiwanis members hope they'll be able to pull a parade together for 2009, said past parade committee chair David Biedebach.

"Everything is still quite tentative," Biedebach said.

The group is looking for sponsors and is considering a new parade route rather than the traditional course down Thousand Oaks Boulevard. One option being considered is parading from Janss Marketplace down to The Oaks shopping center, he said.

Biedebach is hoping the malls will be sponsors.

"The construction at The Oaks is supposed to be completed by February, but you know how construction is," Biedebach said.

If construction has been completed, the group has hopes that some concession booths and a small carnival raising money for local charities could be set up in a corner area of the parking lot.