■ $2,000 award will go toward improving middle school library

A dozen Solano County music teachers have received a total of $20,800 in music grants made available this year by Donald and Rose Marie Wong through their endowment fund at Solano Community Foundation, said Stephanie Wolf, the foundation’s chief executive officer.

Among the recipients is Glenn Walp, who teaches music at Benicia Middle School and who has received several grants from Solano Community Foundation through its Education Plus! Mini-Grant Program.

Walp received $2,000 to improve the school’s music library, Wolf said.

The largest grant, $2,800, was awarded to Kristen Goree, for a vocal ensemble at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School in Vacaville.

Also receiving $2,000 grants were John Phillips, for a new cello at Jepson Middle School in Vacaville; Patty Phillips, for a replacement bass clarinet at the same school; Heather King for a new keyboard at Will C. Wood High School, Vacaville; and Richard Cook for percussion equipment at Will C. Wood High.

Those receiving $1,500 were Heather Simmons, for the Grange Middle School choir and summer musical program in Fairfield; Wally Hunt for instrument repair at Grange Middle School; Allen May for the Collision Choir Stomp at Jean Callison Elementary School, Vacaville; and Valery Gwinnup, for music and instruments at Notre Dame School, Vacaville.

Those receiving $1,000 grants were Laura DeKloe, for the Bringing Back the Music program at Crescent Elementary School in Suisun City, and Mary Levine for the Music for Everyone program at Starting Gate School, Vallejo.

Solano Community Foundation is a nonprofit that provides the opportunity for donors to contribute to Solano County causes that help other local nonprofits work more efficiently and effectively, Wolf said.

In the past, the Wongs simply gave annual grants to local high school music programs, Wolf said. She said they never “felt the impact of those gifts” previously.

She described the new mini-grant program as competitive, with “very specific criteria.”

“Eleven of the 12 grantees teach in public schools in Solano County,” Wolf said. “The other (teaches at) a private school in Vacaville.” Most of the grants went to those in Vacaville, because the Wongs have been long-time residents of that city, she said.

“Some teach classical music, some lead jazz bands, many are instrumental, others are for vocal ensembles.

“They are all performance-based,” she said. “We awarded mini-grants to dedicated teachers who are working against the odds for music instruction.”

She praised the Wongs for their continued support of music teachers. “This generous couple’s actions came from a life-long passion for music, and a deep concern that music instruction and performance have all but disappeared in our schools.”

Wolf said some of the teachers have been instructing their students “using only old, damaged or nonexistent instruments.”

In some cases, the teachers and their music programs lack sheet music, and the grants “allow them to purchase essential items,” she said.

None of the awards was for field trips, entrance fees for competitions or transportation costs, she noted.

The Wongs established their permanently endowed fund at the Solano Community Foundation in 2011 so that such grants could be awarded local music teachers and their programs, Wolf said. Since then, Rose Marie Wong has worked closely with Wolf’s staff to ensure the grants have the greatest impact, she said.

“I think that we have come up with the right formula, and I am very happy to give these music programs what they need and want,” Wong said. “We are most interested in helping music teachers and their students. We want them to have the equipment and materials to do their best.”

Wolf described the mini-grant program as “a wonderful partnership of donors, the Solano Community Foundation and grantees,” and said the awards will become an annual event.

“The Wongs really mean business and they want to make a difference,” she said.