GARDEN GROVE : Festival Gives $90,000 to Local Groups

City organizations have received $90,000 in donations from the proceeds of last year’s Strawberry Festival, held over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Assistance League of Garden Grove, which provides dental care for needy children, will get $30,000 to buy two dental chairs with modern overhead dental equipment, festival officials said.

Kiwanisland Park, which offers overnight camping facilities to youth groups, will also receive $30,000 for renovation and repair of a pond and waterfall.

Senior Meals and Services will get $6,000 for a machine that automatically seals food trays delivered to homes of shut-ins.

Nine groups have so far received cash awards from last year’s Strawberry Festival, the 35th and most successful festival in the city’s history, according to festival president Connie Margolin. About 250,000 people attended last year’s event.

“What profit we make we like to keep in the community,” Margolin said. She estimated that the four-day festival has contributed more than $1 million to community groups over the years.

Volunteers at the Assistance League of Garden Grove said that new dental chairs and equipment are sorely needed.

The two chairs currently in use were made in 1950 and are too old to accommodate modern overhead equipment, Patti Noe, volunteer dental assistant, said Monday.

Children of low-income families are referred to the dental center for treatment by nurses in the Garden Grove Unified School District.

Extractions, fillings and X-rays cost $5, and root canals cost $10 at the clinic, Noe said. Other Strawberry Festival recipients include the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce, $4,526, for a copy machine and computer; Guardettes Drill Team, $4,600 for team warm-up suits; Amparo Youth Shelter, $4,430 for furnishings and supplies; Shelter for the Homeless, $3,000, for a computer system; Real Help, $2,909 for freezer and food storage; and Community Theater, $3,795, for a storage trailer and security lighting.

Festival president Margolin said the organization is still accepting applications from organizations seeking donations.

Requests go to the Strawberry Festival Assn. Inc., P.O. Box 2287, Garden Grove, Calif. 92642, in care of the donations committee.