CINCINNATI and NEW YORK CITY: The Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) has announced that licensing agency Music Theatre International (MTI) will fund grants to support middle school and high schools in California that suffered damage to their theatre programs from the 2018 wildfires.

The MTI California Fire Relief Grants will offer 10 grants of $1,000 to schools impacted with damage or destruction of equipment and facilities, cancellations of events, loss of projected revenue, dislocation of faculty and students, and related issues.

“We are so grateful to generous donors and partners such as MTI who appreciate how having theatre in schools has a positive impact on the entire school and its community,” said ETF president Julie Cohen Theobald in a statement. “These grants are in direct support of ETF’s mission to provide financial support to enhance theatre education and expand access to school theatre programs for every child in America.”

The ETF grant application site is now open for applications through March 15. Recipients will be notified and announced by mid-April.

“MTI is pleased to offer our support to some of the schools affected by the devastating wildfires throughout California,” said MTI president and CEO Drew Cohen in a statement. “The arts have a unique power to make a difference in people’s lives, and we hope that these grants enable the theatre programs impacted by these tragedies to flourish and help heal their communities.”