TFT’s “Singing in the Rain” gala, which takes place on Feb. 24 at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, will honor KESQ’s chief meteorologist Patrick Evans. The event is directed by local favorite, actress/author Joyce Bulifant and emceed by KESQ’s Karen Devine. TFT’s own theatre troupe and other guest performers are on the ticket.

Funds raised go to the nonprofit’s free after-school programs, which service children ages 7 to 11 in several school districts.

“The arts really have the power to transform a child’s life,” said Andrea Hecht TFT’s Executive Director. “And with everything that’s happening, it also is a way of healing. It helps with mental health; processing feelings and emotions and dealing with the challenges that we’re having.

“But it also gives children the opportunity to try new things,” she added.

Founded in 1989, TFT has served more than 21,000 children in the Coachella Valley. More than 90 percent of TFT students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, Hecht noted, and 83 percent are Hispanic or Latino. About 35 percent are English learners while 11 percent have disabilities.

Six percent are homeless.

During the 2023-2024 school year, TFT served more than 1200 students in 27 schools. That includes 15 schools in PSUSD and 12 schools in Desert Sands Unified School District. Also on the nonprofit’s long list of services is a summer program at the Boys & Girls Club in Cathedral City.  

Hecht added that TFT plans to reach more than 1200 students this year.

To be sure, the upcoming gala is a stellar opportunity for the nonprofit to not only honor a local agent of change but also expand its own reach in the Valley. A recent grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the FitzDell Gifting Fund will assist on that front.

“Our recent grant will help us build up our art supplies and books specifically,” Hecht said. “We’re starting to integrate more books into our curriculum. A lot of the students in third, fourth, and fifth grade were just starting their education when the pandemic hit.

These were critical years for reading instruction.

“We used books to introduce artists or music, musicians, or learn more about historical characters or even maybe about space,” she noted. “Big books helped facilitate wonder, curiosity, and interest. Then we pair the books with hands-on art projects and encourage the kids to become better readers and lifelong learners, really; to learn something about a person or a subject and then use hands-on creativity.”

This aligns with TFT’s programs, which promote critical thinking skills, social-emotional development and a creative thought process through meaningful, multi-sensory artistic opportunities. 

In addition to the upcoming gala and the grant funding, TFT and La Quinta Art Celebration have partnered on a book project for students. The collaboration will raise funds for children’s literature books for students throughout the Valley to read in TFT’s Creative Clubs, or create related art and music projects, then take the books home to share with their siblings and family.

“I grew up in a very creative family,” Hecht said. “My mom was an art teacher, my dad a scientist and engineer. I always had the arts when I was a child. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s and in elementary school, we had art and music in the classroom. It didn’t really occur to me that kids wouldn’t have art in the classroom; that it wouldn’t be a part of their regular curriculum until my kids started school and moved to the Valley.

“Being able to provide these kinds of creative experiences that share culture and give kids a way to be successful in the classroom, a safe place to explore, and take creative risks is incredibly important,” she added.

Learn more at toolsfortomorrow.org.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, February 2025

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