Chamber scholarship fund gets seed money

Elise Gee

COSTA MESA -- Thanks to about 60 supporters, a fund for the first ever

Partnering Education and Community scholarship program now has seed money

in it.

A fund-raiser for the program, which provides college money for at-risk

youth in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, took place Thursday at

That’s Aroma at Triangle Square.

“It was designed to be a kick-start and a little bit of a start-up

campaign,” said Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Ed Fawcett.

“It’s been a quiet outreach up until this point.”

Partnering Education and Community, now in its fourth year, is a

collaborative effort between the chamber, Orange Coast College and the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

The program helps students understand the workplace, learn about job

opportunities and discover valuable reasons for staying in school. More

than 120 students from Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools have seen

business operations firsthand at Balboa Instruments, a Costa Mesa

manufacturing firm.

The experience has led to 12 summer jobs for students and a fledgling

$4,500 in scholarship money. But supporters this year decided to start an

official scholarship drive with the hopes of raising $20,000 by next

spring.

This week’s fund-raiser kick-starts that effort with about 60 people

paying $25 for an evening of Italian dining at That’s Aroma.

Fawcett said the program aims to offer two, $500 scholarships each

semester in hopes of convincing at-risk students to stay in school and

further their education.