Last week's arrest of Jennifer Border-Piatti for allegedly stealing $40,000 from the Costa Mesa High School Band Booster Club has not only spelled trouble for the nonprofit's 50-year-old treasurer.
It may have also doomed the school's marching band and color guard program.
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See also:
Jennifer Piatti, Costa Mesa High School Band Booster Treasurer, Accused of Stealing $40k
Cecilia Zamora as Treasurer Gave High School Cheer Boosters an “E” for Embezzlement: Cops
Gail Diane Panella-Monestere, Former Parent Teacher Group President, Accused of $22k Theft
“Our lack of funds is causing us much strain,” explains Jennifer Bernal, co-captain of Costa Mesa High's color guard.
The 17-year-old senior does not know what she and her bandmates would do if the program was suspended.
“Many students find the program to
be an escape from drama at home and school,” she says, “and I personally, along with
many others, could not imagine what our lives would be like if we didn't
have this program.”
They are hoping the community can come through with donations to save the program this school year. Donations can be sent to program through the school at 2650 Fairveiw Road, Costa Mesa CA, 92626. For more information, contact Band Director Sandy Gilboe via email at sg*****@nm***.us.
To get a sense of the pride students have in their program, visit their Facebook page.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.