More than $18,000 in grants presented to local schools
In addition to supporting music programs for children across Orange County through the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the fundraising efforts throughout the year of the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee (HHPC) also enables the organization to reinvest significant funds into community schools with annual musical education reinvestment grants.
HHPC encompasses six volunteer groups under their umbrella, including a Seal Beach group. Their major fundraiser is the annual Cruise of Lights® event which takes people on narrated cruises around Huntington Harbour to view homes with elaborate holiday light displays. In October, the HHPC Holiday Boutique at the Huntington Harbour Mall is a very popular shopping extravaganza featuring over 30 booths with unique and handmade items.
Carol Ventura, HHPC Parliamentarian/Music Reinvestment Chair along with HHPC Chair Patty Reilly presented checks totaling $18,900 to local school representatives at the Cruise of Lights® “Committees Night” dinner at the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club on Dec. 17.
The funds will be used in all sorts of way to enrich music education; from purchasing instruments and sheet music, to a bucket drumming lunch program at Agnes Smith Elementary School, band programs, recorder programs, a new piano for Harbour View Elementary, audio, sound and lighting equipment, uniforms, music appreciation and even special needs programs. The dedicated teachers and administrators receiving grants are committed to keeping music alive in schools and are so grateful for the support.
Assistant principal Wendy Wood accepted a grant on behalf of J.H. McGaugh Elementary School and said the money will “help pay for some of the instruments used in performances and recorders for students.”
Every fall, school administrators are sent the single page grant application worksheet and asked to share it with their music instructors. To qualify for a grant, the music program must be described along with how the funds would be used. A panel of volunteers from the HHPC meets to read through all the grant applications and determine which applicants will receive funding and allocate the amounts based on the amount of money available that year.
The following schools received grants in varying amounts for their music programs:
• Agnes Smith Elementary School
• Ethel Dwyer Middle School
• Harbour View Elementary School
• The Hebrew Academy Orange County
• Huntington Beach High School
• J. H. McGaugh Elementary School
• Liberty Christian School
• Marine View Middle School
• Marina High School
• Mesa View Middle School
• Ocean View High School
• Seacliff Elementary School
• Isaac L. Sowers Middle School
• St. Bonaventure Catholic School
• Westmont Elementary
• The Youth Center, Los Alamitos
For more information about the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee, The Philharmonic Society of Orange County, or to receive a 2020 Musical Reinvestment Grant application for your school, contact the HHPC office: 714-840-7542 or email Madeline@philharmonicsociety.org.
