Tuesday, May 5, 2026

At a Convention Center Filled with Faith Leaders, a Keynote on Rising After the Eaton Fire

[Photo Courtesy: Pasadena Convention Center Facebook Page]

Miguel A. Santana, head of the foundation that distributed $30 million in wildfire relief in its first month after the Eaton Fire, headlines the 53rd Annual Pasadena Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast

When clergy, civic leaders and hundreds of residents gather at the Pasadena Convention Center early Thursday for the 53rd Annual Pasadena Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, the room will be carrying nearly a year and a half of grief, resilience and unfinished rebuilding. The theme — “Rising Together” — chose itself.

The breakfast runs Thursday, May 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., with doors opening at 6:45 a.m., at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St. The keynote speaker is Miguel A. Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. Santana’s foundation activated its wildfire recovery fund immediately after the Eaton Fire and distributed $30 million in its first month to nonprofits assisting fire survivors in Altadena and across the region. His career across public service, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector has focused on housing, homelessness and disaster response.

The breakfast is hosted by Friends In Deed, the Pasadena interfaith nonprofit that has served the city’s homeless and at-risk residents since 1894. Proceeds will support its programs — The Women’s Room, Food Pantry, Bad Weather Shelter, Street Outreach and Housing, and Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance — many of which have absorbed direct demand from displaced Eaton Fire survivors over the past 16 months.

Last year’s 52nd breakfast filled the convention center ballroom in the immediate aftermath of the fires. Rabbi Joshua Grater, Friends In Deed’s executive director, opened that gathering with a story of unhoused women at the Women’s Room arranging donated flowers and finding their voices. This year’s gathering picks up where that one left off — still rebuilding, still rising, still walking with people.

The 53rd Annual Pasadena Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast will run on Thursday, May 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Doors open at 6:45 a.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit friendsindeedpas.org.