These tables and benches at Palisades High School are at least 20 years old, but with help from Rotary and the Community Council, they will be replaced.
When Pacific Palisades High School students return to campus in January, they’ll have new outdoor seating and cafeteria benches thanks to a grant from Rotary District 5280 Wildfire Relief Fund and the Pacific Palisades Community Council.
PaliHi Director of Development Rene Rodman thinks the old benches almost qualify as “antiques.” “The seating pre-dates Pali becoming an independent charter in 2003, so it was already in deep need of replacement before the fire,” Rodman said and noted that prior to the fire the benches were significantly warped, uneven, damaged, permanently stained and loose, but with “so many needs post-fire, neither LAUSD nor the school have the funds for new ones.”
Rodman said the outdoor cafeteria is more than just a place for lunch, it is also used for: breakfast before school, snacks and meals during nutrition and lunch periods, class and staff meetings, after school activities and meals and weekend activities and events.
The total estimate for full replacement was a little more than $142,000. The Rotary Club granted $50,000 and the PPCC granted $30,000.
“We couldn’t be more grateful,” Rodman said and added, “The school’s return to campus will be a milestone for not only our students, families, and staff, but for the entire Pacific Palisades community. We’ll bring significant life, activity, momentum, and hope back to town.”
PaliHi Principal Dr. Pamela Magee said, “We’ve been incredibly grateful to have so many entities from across Los Angeles contribute to our fire relief efforts, but it is particularly meaningful to have two hometown organizations support us in such a big way.
“We’ll still need additional funds to complete the cafeteria project, but the Rotary Club and PPCC have gotten us more than halfway there in record time,” Magee said. “The cafeteria is where friendships grow and community takes shape, and this revitalized space will serve our students in countless ways for many years to come.”
If you’d like to contribute to Pali High’s new outdoor cafeteria or its fire relief efforts, visit go.PaliHigh.org/RaisePali.
Integral to the District Rotary donation was past Palisades Rotary Club President Jeff Lemen.
Lemen told CTN that “Club President, Perry Akins, reached out to me to let me know that the District was looking for a member of the Palisades Club to serve on the Wildfire Relief Committee (WRC). He thought I was uniquely qualified to serve on the committee and I joined without hesitation.”
Lemen said the District is overseeing approximately $800,000 that is to be used for projects that will support the Palisades community’s effort to recover. Initially, there had been $1.3 million in the fund, because of Rotary International member donations.
Lemen said, “As far as the committee’s decision to support PaliHi with their project/grant request, it was a no-brainer. The committee is seeking to support projects that will have significant impact on the recovery, especially projects that serve youth.”
In addition to PaliHi, WRC approved a grant for Pali Elementary and is co-sponsoring a community-wide holiday event at Marquez Elementary School on December 13. Lemen said the committee has also spoken to Friends of the Palisades Library, members of the Village Green and the YMCA. “The WRC is committed to allocating these funds as soon as possible,” he said
Students will return to new tables when school resumes in January.