It had been a tense few weeks for a California high school band since two local travel agents to whom members had paid $100,000 for a trip to China were arrested and charged with stealing from customers.
But just as it seemed that the March trip would have to be canceled, a local bank came to the rescue.
The $1 billion-asset Community Bank of Central California in Salinas announced at a meeting of Monterey County community leaders last week that it would lend the North Monterey County High School band $100,000 - interest free - to meet the deadline set by the primary travel agent, Asia Holiday Travel in San Francisco.
Dee Maitland, the manager of Community Bank's Castroville branch, said the band is a source of community pride. Residents were especially upset because the students had raised the money themselves, she said.
"Being here in Castroville, you witness every day how hard these students work," Ms. Maitland said. "We just had to so something."
Community Bank provides low-interest loans to nonprofits, but the Castroville branch had never made a no-interest loan, she said.
The bank will be repaid from a fund that 8,000 registered travel agents throughout California established to compensate in-state customers who lose money to fraud at agencies.
Ms. Maitland said it expects the repayment process to take about six months, after parents and students have filed claims and been reimbursed.
D.L. Johnson, the band director, said he "teared up" when he learned of the bank's action.
"It's a tremendous thing that Community Bank did," Mr. Johnson said. "I walked out of that meeting and suddenly a huge weight was taken off my shoulders, and I could get back to rehearsing with the kids."
Edward Pio Travel Agency in Salinas had been collecting the students' money as it came in and said it would send the full amount to Asia Holiday, which is handling most of the travel arrangements.
In December, however, the two owners of the Pio agency were arrested and charged. The District Attorney's Office then froze the company's assets.
Mr. Johnson said it took him a few weeks to figure out how much of the band's money the agency had. Once he came up with the $100,000 figure, he began looking at his options. He turned for help to a county supervisor who put him in touch with Ms. Maitland.
Community Bank's loan, along with $70,000 the Chinese government put up after hearing about the trouble, will let 125 students and 70 chaperones go to China's Hi Bei province for the 11-day tour starting March 5.
"It's a win-win situation for everyone," Mr. Johnson said. "The loan is guaranteed and the bank is providing a community service that is helping kids - the most valuable asset we have."
Mr. Johnson has taken the band to China once before. In 2001 it was invited by the governor of Hi Bei to participate in a competition there.
The band, which has won several national awards, has also performed at many noteworthy occasions, including the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington last spring and Bill Clinton's second inauguration in 1997.
