At the last Los Feliz gala, the special project that parents contributed to during our paddle session was for the purchase of a LILA van.  The goal was to provide transportation possibilities for LILA projects such as field trips, sporting activities, and teacher training programs.  We explained the project and parents responded with incredible generosity and we raised about $28,000.00!  We did not rush out in June to buy the van right away because we wanted to make sure that the money was spent wisely and we did a lot of research before picking the right vehicle.  Thanks to the hard work of many LILA team members -but ultimately the incredible negotiating skills of Cengiz Kaplan, our corporate accountant, the school was able to use the funds to purchase not one but TWO 2008 12 passenger vans.  The gala funds allowed us to purchase the two vans;  the LILA general budget supplemented as needed to make sure we got an extended warranty that would keep these vans running tip top for 100,000 miles.

Thank you generous gala patrons!  One more way that your generous donations are going to make life on campus better and allow us to expand the program beyond o ur very crowded Los Feliz walls!