A news conference will be held on Wednesday, January 5 at 10 a.m. at the River Bend Foodbank, 309 12th Street, Moline, Illinois to announce a major funding gift from a local community foundation, the Moline Foundation and a statewide foundation, the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation, Oak Brook, Illinois.

The gift is the result of a challenge grant campaign held in the Quad Cities the last few weeks and conducted by the Moline Foundation. Other community foundations around the state were challenged to raise funds in Springfield, Champaign, Chicago, St. Charles, Peoria, and East St. Louis. Over 1.5 million people in Illinois now live in poverty. Of this number, approximately 500,000 are children. This statewide funding initiative will be used to provide nutritious meals for Illinois children through after school programs, weekend back pack feeding programs, and mobile distribution programs.

As a Community Foundation, The Moline Foundation offers a range of charitable funds, allowing donors to advance a cause such as education or the environment, support an individual organization, provide flexible support for community needs or recommend individual grants. The Moline Foundation, founded in 1953, is a Community Foundation which provides funding to health, human services, education, community, workforce and economic development, the arts and other charitable organizations which benefit the citizens of Scott County, Iowa and Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Warren, McDonough and Henderson counties in western Illinois. The Moline Foundation receives and administers charitable gifts; has a current endowment of approximately $15 million; and handles additional funds to benefit donor wishes. The Moline Foundation also serves as a catalyst and convener to bring about solutions to problems affecting quality of life in our region.

Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation is the only statewide private foundation focused on improving the health of all children in the State of Illinois. It was created in December 2002 through an action between the State of Illinois Attorney General's office and a private insurance carrier. This action established the Foundation which was funded with an investment of approximately $125 million.

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State legislators will have a chance to learn more about the Family Development and Self Sufficiency (FaDSS) Program at an information fair being held at the Capitol on January 18th from 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Iowa Family Development Alliance, the fair will include a march of FaDSS families and staff to the steps of the Capitol. FaDSS Programs from all across the state will be setting up displays on the first floor rotunda, allowing legislators to get information about the FaDSS program that operates in their districts. The event will also offer legislators an opportunity to speak with FaDSS families about how the program has affected their lives. FaDSS staff will be on hand to answer specific program questions.

The event will be held at the State Capitol, Rotunda. For additional information contact - Helen Benker, FaDSS Program Director at 563-324-3239, ext. 1373.

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The Center for Living Arts will hold auditions for its school version of "Rent" from 7pm until 9pm on January 21st  and from 11am until 1:30pm on January 22nd at 2008 - 4th Avenue in Rock Island. For more information, call (309) 788-5433 or send an e-mail to Dino@center4living.com.

Countryside Community Theatre will hold auditions for this year's summer shows, "Gypsy" in June and "The Wizard of Oz" in July, from Noon until 5pm on January 8th and from Noon until 4pm January 9th at North Scott High School in Eldridge. For more information, e-mail cctonstage@hotmail.com.

Harrison Hilltop Theatre auditions for "Frost/Nixon," "Sweeney Todd," "Same Time, Next Year," and "Jesus Christ Superstar"  will be held at 10am on January 15th at the theater, 1601 Harrison St., Davenport. More information is available by e-mailing casting@harrisonhilltop.com.

Playcrafters Barn Theatre will hold auditions for their two-man comedy/drama "Visiting Mr. Green," at 7pm on January 16th thru the 20th at their theater, 4950 35th Ave., Moline.

Prenzie Players will audition for "Romeo and Juliet" on January 12th from 6:30pm until 9:30pm and on January 15th from 1pm until 4pm at the Establishment Theatre, 220 19th St., Rock Island. Callbacks are scheduled for January 16th from  6pm until 9pm.

Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script. For more information, call (309) 787-1931 or e-mail director@ prenzieplayers.com.

On January 15, 2011, the Davenport Chordbusters will host their first ever Youth In Harmony workshop, ACAPPELLOOZA . The workshop will have experienced music clinicians run a day-long workshop with the assistance of chapter members. Our Youth in Harmony chairman, along with the President of the Chordbusters, has been in contact with the music educators from several area schools who have shown an interest in promoting and attending this workshop with students from their schools.

The ACAPPELLOOZA workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 15, 2011, at St. Ambrose University, with the main clinicians being Dr. Keith Haan, Director of Choral Activities at St. Ambrose University; and Stephanie Batten, Director of the Port City Pearls Chorus of Muscatine, Iowa. They will be assisted by two teaching quartets, A Touch of Fun and Mini Pearls. The workshop will be attended by students from Davenport Assumption, United Township, Sherrard, and Kewanee Wethersfield high schools.

The activities for the day include : vocal warm-up exercises, separate sectional rehearsals for males and females in which the registrants will practice their respective vocal part (tenor, lead, baritone and bass) on five songs. One of these songs will performed by a combined male and female chorus. The workshop will be followed by a general session in which the combined number will be rehearsed together, along with an explanation of the evening event. ACAPPELLOOZA participants will gain increased vocal production and stage presence skills.

Each participant will be given a souvenir t-shirt to wear during the evening show at the Galvin Fine Arts Center, where they will perform on stage with the Chordbusters, the Port City Pearls Chorus and chapter quartets. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is only $5.00.

It is our hope that, through this workshop and evening show, these high school participants and teachers can experience the joy that singing this style of music can bring. It is our heartfelt goal to Keep the Whole World Singing one student at a time.

Funding for this workshop has been provided by Quad City Arts, The Barbershop Harmony Society and The Chordbusters.

The Chordbusters, aka SPEBSQSA A-008 Davenport, Iowa Chapter, is a non-profit singing organization, affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society. Over the past few years, our Society has encouraged each chapter to appoint a Youth in Harmony chairman whose job would be to increase exposure of this particular style of singing and our organization to area youth. It is the hope of the Chordbuster Chorus that this increase in exposure will lead to an infusion of young male and female singers in the high school choirs singing a cappella, barbershop style music.

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For more information on the Chordbusters you can find us at www.thechordbusters.com .