“The show came about by Beyond Productions,” said TLC Director of Productions Eric Black. “They do ‘Mythbusters’ for Discovery Channel. They were fascinated by large food stunts that pop up every once in a while.”
The production company, Black added, has been aware of La Cañada Flintridge because of the Station fire and subsequent mudslides and chose the Community Center as the beneficiary of the program’s first world record attempt.
“We found out the Center was going to have to shut down some art programs,” Black said. “We asked if we could do something to help them.”
“The majority of our money comes from our programs,” said the center’s executive director, Megan Nordvedt. “We do have a couple of fundraisers here and the city contributes Proposition A dollars to us from the state. Last year, they gave us about $12,000 for senior programs and ceramics and stuff like that.”
The city of La Cañada Flintridge also owns the property and leases it to the center for $1 a year. But the city doesn’t help with maintenance.
Even with that, the center’s budget is about $900,000 annually.
“That’s everything,” Nordvedt said. “The staff, the facilities, everything. A lot of [our annual budget] comes from different places, but the majority comes from our preschool, programs, classes and camps.”
Smith’s estimation of $100,000 is the high-bar goal for each year from fundraising and grants, Nordvedt said, though that’s not usually reached. More than half of that comes from the center’s annual Thanksgiving Day Run, but more is needed. Nordvedt said $20,000 from this Sunday’s fundraiser would be “outstanding.”
