UPDATE Monday, June 6, 4:17pm | AES California’s Alamitos Power Plant in Long Beach will match more than $19,000 in donations made by attendees at its second annual open house Saturday to save the Long Beach school district’s middle school sports program.
Nancy Foster, wife of Mayor Bob Foster, said the event had “a great turnout and AES is matching $19,100 to save sports!”
The grand total AES will be donating to the Long Beach Education Foundation, then, is $38,200, which is on top of a previous $20,000 donation made by the company.
Foster said that coaches, students,m parents and grandparents, among others, were generous in pitching in to ensure Long Beach Unified School District’ middle school sports continued to be offered during the 2011-12 school year.
“It was a fun event and also a great opportunity to take a tour of the plant, which people really enjoyed,” Foster said. “Tony Chavez, the plant operator for AES, is a fine person who cares about the community, especially our younger people who need our support.”
The foundation is attempting to arise $190,000, half the amount necessary to restore the middle school sports program, which the school board axed this spring in the face of massive budget cuts. The district has said it would cover the other half of the $380,000 by reallocating certain restricted funds.
Thursday, June 2, 4:01pm | AES California, which operates the AES Alamitos Power Plant in Long Beach, is set to host its second annual Power Festival: The Power of You on Saturday, June 4, and as a sponsor of the Long Beach Education Foundation, it has agreed to aid current fundraising efforts for local middle school sports during the open house event.
The free day of music, sun and family fun will feature free tours of the plant, games and rides, food, pony rides, a petting zoo, a tidepool exhibit courtesy of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Aquarium on Wheels, face-painting and more. Anyone who plans to take the tour is reminded to wear closed-toe shoes for safety purposes.
AES has agreed to match 100 percent of all donations it receives for the foundation’s Save LBUSD Middle School Sports! campaign during the Power Festival, and those who donate will receive free raffle tickets, according to the event flier.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the plant, located at 690 N. Studebaker Road.
As an added incentive to check out the Power Festival, Nancy Foster, wife of Mayor Bob Foster, told the Long Beach Post that the Laker Girls are expected to be on hand during the open house.
AES has already donated $20,000 to the foundation’s campaign, Foster said.
The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees voted in March to eliminate funding for the district’s middle school sports program as part of its ongoing efforts to address the district’s looming budget shortfall in the face of repeated, emaciating slashes to state education funding.
Since 2008, LBUSD has cut more than $200 million from its annual operating budget, and more than 700 district staffers are being laid off this coming school year.
Effectively axed beginning in the 2011-12 school year are eight sports: volleyball, flag football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls track and field, boys and girls soccer and cross country.
The sports funding covered all costs of administering the middle school sports program, including district-certified coaches, certified sports officials, buses and awards.
In April, the Long Beach Education Foundation board voted to launch a Save LBUSD Middle School Sports! campaign, which has a goal of raising $190,000, half of the total $380,000 needed to retain all sports programs for middle-schoolers next year.
LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser has said that the district would reallocate certain restricted funds to cover the remaining half.
Progressive Dinner Party Long Beach is also raising funds to save the sports program this weekend, with a dinner party planned for Sunday. Click here for more information on that event.
