Community Grants and Spark Choir Highlight 2015 VHCA Annual General Meeting
by Jack White
The 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Virginia-Highland Civic Association was held on Thursday, September 17 at the Inman Middle School cafeteria. A variety of messages and welcomes were furnished by elected officials and their representatives, Board members were elected (you may see them and a list of officers here) and community grants were presented (more on that in a moment).
For the fourth year in a row, the evening began with a lovely and moving performance by the Springdale Park Advanced Chorus, led by Music Director Brianne Turgeon. First on the agenda and first in our hearts, the choir did a lovely presentation of half-dozen songs. You can hear them on the meeting video here, but nothing compares to hearing them in person. Their presence alone makes the attending the meeting worthwhile.
The business portion of the meeting may be viewed here.
Over $27,000 in community grants were presented. Each of our three public schools got $4100 for a variety of programs – PTO support at Spark, the Girls in Engineering, Science, Math program at Inman, college counseling and theater improvements at Grady, among others. Nonprofits and public institutions who play a major role in improving the quality of life – Trees Atlanta, PEDS, and the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition – got grants, along with a donation to the Ponce de Leon library (one of the system’s busiest), which has suffered funding cuts in the last few years. It is a pleasure to be able to support so many people who are working for the public good in this community.
All these donations were raised through the efforts of citizens in projects organized by the Virginia-Highland Civic Association, primarily Summerfest and Tour of Homes. A full list of this year’s grants – and those of the last decade, totaling over a quarter-million dollars – may be found here. They are a very tangible manifestation of the extraordinary volunteer efforts in this community, one that we can all be proud of.
Jack White is a Board Member and President of VHCA.