Two Upland community heroes chosen for L.A. County Fair
The city has nominated two "Community Heroes" for this year's L.A. County Fair.
Karissa Burgos, junior hero, and Kathy Pruitt, adult hero, will be honored at 5:30 p.m. during Upland Day during the fair at Fairplex, 1101 West McKinley Ave. Pomona, on Sept. 9.
Every year the L.A. County Fair honors community heroes from 18 surrounding cities during the 23-day-long event.
Upland Day will celebrate volunteers, humanitarians, students, neighbors and community organizations working to make their city a better place to live.
There will be a parade down Broadway featuring civic organizations and school bands.
Cost is $5 before 5 p.m.
Junior hero Burgos is a recent graduate of Upland High School where she was active in the National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, as ASB senior class vice president and in choir, dance and pep squad.
A Girl Scout for the past 12 years, Burgos earned her Gold Award with her volunteer efforts at the City of Hope. For the City of Hope, she founded Gifts of Hope, an organization which collects donations of age-appropriate gifts for patients.
More than 350 items have been donated. Burgos is also an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity and a member of Jobs Daughters.
She helped organize a "senior prom" at a local senior center and has volunteered at the Foothill Family Shelter.
Over the past five years, Burgos has participated with the American Cancer Society's Upland Relay for Life.
Her team has raised more than $30,000.
Adult Hero, Pruitt, volunteers with the Upland Public Library, the Upland Public Library Adult Literacy Program and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Pruitt was described as a "wonderful pillar" of support for the Adult Literacy Program.
She began as a tutor in 1994 and has since tutored 19 students, helping them to meet their literacy goals and logging in more than 2, 500 hours of time in the process.
Pruitt started the Reading Club for adult learners and has raised money for the literacy program - for the last seven years she has participated on the Tutor Titans trivia team at the annual Literacy Trivia Bee and Silent Auction fundraiser.
Pruitt has worked tirelessly as a spokeswoman for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. She has served as a liaison between Coiner Nursery and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Coiner Nursery is the original creater of the Pink Promise rose, which is the national rose dedicated to breast cancer awareness. A portion of the sale of every Pink Promise rose goes to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
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