Local hands reach out to school

Andrew Wainer

Hyundai Motors America donated more than $6,000 to the Fountain Valley

High School band last week, helping the group replace thousands of

dollars of equipment that was stolen earlier this month.

Gary Wampler, the school’s band director, said musical equipment worth

$6,200 was stolen from the campus on Nov. 9.

Stolen items included cymbals, electronic keyboards, and synthesizers.

The Fountain Valley Police Department is investigating the case but has

not made any arrests.

“This type of thing never happened before,” said Wampler, who has worked

at the school for 19 years.

He said the theft was devastating for the school band members, who won

second place in their division at the national championship in Dayton,

Ohio last year.

But an outpouring of community support and goodwill quickly filled the

gap that the robbery created.

“The day after the theft, music stores had already loaned us some

instruments for practice,” Wampler said.

And although they had to practice without some instruments for a few

days, local high schools soon pitched in to help the band.

After news of the theft appeared in local media, Wampler was surprised by

a $6,200 donation from Fountain Valley-based Hyundai.

“We live in the community and therefore we felt it was appropriate to

help,” said Finnbar O’Neill, Hyundai CEO.

He said the theft of the high school band’s equipment was brought to his

attention by the company’s public relations personnel after they saw it

in the local media.

“We felt bad for the kids because they were just about to begin

competitions,” O’Neill said. “We decided to help.”

Another anonymous $6,000 donation to the band brought the total to more

than $12,000.

Wampler said the extra cash will be dedicated to installing a security

system to protect against future break-ins.