Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee Awards $95,000 in Grants and Scholarships
$2.5 Million Donated Since 1971
Pumpkin Festival
a Boon for Non-Profits
The Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival is a huge civic effort. Some thirty-five non-profit and community service groups participate in the festival by operating food and game booths. For most, the festival is their most lucrative fund-raising event of the year, enabling them to raise a substantial portion of their annual budget from the two-day festival.
An estimated $400,000 was raised by local community service groups from food, beverage, game and parking sales at last year’s Pumpkin Festival. By providing this opportunity for the non-profit sector, the Pumpkin Festival helps to perpetuate “giving" in the community, no small feat for a town without a base of large corporate donors. |
Coastside civic and non-profit groups, educational organizations and municipal agencies will share in the $95,000 in grants and donations announced by the Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee. The grants were announced during the City Council Meeting on May 20 at the Ted Adcock Community Center.
Funding is generated through the annual Art & Pumpkin Festival, which has been operated and managed by the Beautification Committee since 1971. The grants and donations are above and beyond the estimated $400,000 raised annually by local community service groups from food, beverage, game and parking sales at the Pumpkin Festival.
In its 37-year history, the Beautification Committee has directly contributed more than 2.5 million dollars in grants and donations to coastside non-profit organizations and civic causes. “The Pumpkin Festival represents the very best in a community coming together and awarding grants is a big part of why we do it,” said Cameron Palmer, President of the Beautification Committee Board of Directors. “These organizations play such a vital role in our community. We’re honored and delighted to support their important work.”
The largest single contribution ($25,000) went to the on-going maintenance and beautification of the Main Street downtown core. Among the efforts are seasonal planting of flowers, installation and repair of old-fashioned wooden benches, litter removal, cleaning, and year-round maintenance of Main Street.
Some of the organizations receiving funding include the Coastal Repertory Theater ($12,000), San Mateo County Sheriff Explorers Program ($5,760), I.D.E.S. Society ($5,000), Sonrisas Communty Dental Clinic ($4,800 for equipment), Coastal Arts League ($3,000 for the Pumpkin Festival poster design contest), City of Half Moon Bay ($2,500 for Mac Dutra Park bathroom restoration), HOPE Services ($2,500 for bicycles and art supplies), Coastside Fire Protection District ($2,250 for emergency warning and lighting stations), City of Half Moon Bay Parks & Rec ($2,200 for programs), Half Moon Bay Girls Softball League ($2,100 for field maintenance/mower and mulch), Coastside Adult Day Health Center ($2,000 for Alzheimers program), Senior Coastsiders ($2,000 for nutrition program), Half Moon Bay High School Grad Night ($2,000), and Coastside RotaCare Clinic ($2,000 for educational materials).
Additionally, $7,000 in college scholarship money will be awarded to Half Moon Bay High School students. The scholarships are named in memory of founding festival members Dolores Mullin, Patsy Dutra and Melvin Mello.
This year’s 39th annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival will be held October 17-18, 2009. For information, call 650-726-9652 or visit www.miramarevents.com.
The Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee
In 1971, the Main Street Committee for Beautification was appointed by the Half Moon Bay City Council to launch a massive “paint-in" and tree-planting program as part of an extensive downtown restoration program. The committee consisted of a group of civic-minded citizens who wanted to make a lasting contribution to the preservation and beautification of the town's historic Main Street.
In order to raise funds for their projects, they inaugurated what became the Art & Pumpkin Festival. Since the festival's inception 37 years ago, the committee has contributed more than $2.5 million dollars to various civic projects and community service organizations.
Some of the Main Street projects funded by the committee at no cost to the city have included: the renovation of City Hall, the painting of historic buildings, the installation of old-fashioned street lights and wooden benches, the underground wiring of Main Street, the planting of trees and flower beds, the construction of Mac Dutra and Kitty Fernandez Parks, and the purchase of garbage receptacles and Christmas lights. Additionally, the committee spends thousands of dollars every year in the on-going maintenance of Main Street. They plant fresh flowers, re-furbish benches, and pay someone to clean up and sweep Main Street every week.
Additionally, the committee spends $25,000 every year in the on-going maintenance and beautification of the city’s historic and charming Main Street. |
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