This is part three of a five-part series about the recipients of the Impact 100 grants for this year.

Impact 100 Focus Category: Arts and culture

Website: BCYOrchestra.com

Phone: 251-979-6834

Summary: “Purchase of percussion, string and large brass equipment, music library for young performers, an enclosed trailer to transport equipment to concerts, part-time instructors as classes are added and promotional materials. BCYO expects to create a music program in every middle school, so those students would continue in the advanced youth orchestra in the middle and high school years.”

Baldwin County Youth Orchestra, a nonprofit community youth orchestra, received one of five grants from Impact 100 worth $92,000.

BCYO is a full orchestra — including string, brass, woodwind and percussion — for students at the college level and younger who wish to improve their skills beyond band in school or private lessons.

With their grant, cofounder and director Leroy Hughes says the grant will help to build and develop their existing levels of string instruments and classes.

“We do have a strings program other than the orchestra with children starting as young as five,” Hughes says. “This is where the grant comes into play. We have a few levels, but the money would help us continue to build them and help the children continue and develop.”

BCYO also plans to use their grant money for marketing.

“I tell people about Baldwin County Youth Orchestra, and they respond with ‘What?’” Hughes says. “I want us to become so well known that everyone knows what BCYO is and what we’re about.”

The organization also wants to start working with Baldwin County Schools and provide after-school programs in the schools or community locations.

“We’re trying to build our number of participants in string instruments,” Hughes says. “Our primary mission is not strings, but it’s what we see has our biggest need. The county doesn’t have a strings program, and it’s our goal to collaborate with them. There are still many details to work out, but we want to bring our programs to communities and make them more centralized.”

Large percussion and brass instruments, such as timpani, marimba and xylophones are on the organizations wish list as well.

“These are items we haven’t had since we started but we need them for an orchestra,” Hughes says.

The Baldwin County Youth Orchestra practices Monday evenings at Eastern Shore Baptist Church. What started as an after-school strings program developed into a youth orchestra with the help of Hughes and Linda Abercrombie in 2001.

“We are always looking for community support, recruiting children and getting the word out,” Hughes says.

The youth orchestra usually performs twice a year, once around Christmas and then in the spring. The adult strings group does several concerts throughout the year. “Peter and the Wolf” is an upcoming concert presented by BCYO on Dec. 12 at Eastern Shore Baptist Church.