Welcome to the 3rd School-Force Education Foundation eNewsletter.  The goals of these newsletters are to provide information about what is happening with the foundation, and to create a two-way channel to communicate with the school community. Additionally, they will highlight some of the great things that happen in our district about which many people may not be aware.   The eNewsletter is part of an ongoing communication effort by School-Force volunteers.  It will be sent out every month or two as needed. You can see archived versions on the S-F website.

 

Foundation volunteers have now almost finished updating the database, so hopefully this is being more widely distributed than the last two editions.  You can email mailto:communications@schoolforce.orgif you wish to add or update an email address.  It may have also been sent to people who do not have an ongoing relationship with the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, so please feel free to unsubscribe below. 

 

 

 

President's Update:

 

 

Recently, I was handed an envelope by a second grader decorated with stickers and smiley faces. Inside was a donation, made by a seven year old who hosted a snack stand in order to make money to make a difference for her school. This little girl had spent her weekend selling healthy treats to her neighbors and friends and talking to them about why she needed to do this for her school. She has heard the concerns many of us are discussing about the lack of funding for education but instead of getting frustrated, she decided to make a difference. That’s what every donation to School-Fore does: make a difference.

This is not the only envelope School-Force receives from kids. Every year, brownie troops, cub scouts, student government organizations decide to give the money they have made from popcorn or cookie sales or a magazine drive to School-Force because they reap the rewards of our education foundation being able to give back to them. The programs School-Fore is able to keep alive because of our generous donors make a difference to the children who thankfully do not know what an education is like without them.

If our children can give like this, the least we can all do is give as well.  As we enter into our Annual Giving campaign, please take the time to make a donation. If you have questions please talk to the volunteers who are making the calls, because every dollar donated touches a child.

 

Ardythe Andrews

President, School-Force Education Foundation & Parent, Central Elementary School

 

 

 

The School-Force Education Foundation’s Annual Giving Campaign kicks off this month. School-Force volunteers will be contacting families in the district who have not yet donated or pledged to donate this school year. The majority (generally between 60-70%) of foundation funds are received via this campaign: direct giving from all the families in the Belmont-Redwood Shores district.  By now you've seen multiple messages about the important programs that your child may miss out on if we don't raise sufficient funds through School-Force*.  Instead of talking programs, let's talk numbers. 

The School-Force foundation, like hundreds of other education foundations around California, raises money to the bridge the gap between government funding and school needs, and improves the quality of education in our district.  Remember, your child may likely be competing with students from other states for college admittance and employment opportunities. 

Every year the foundation starts from $0 to raise the money needed to promote excellence in our schools by funding teachers and programs that would otherwise be lost.  To keep up with rising costs, and to fund new programs and personnel, the donor base must expand annually.  If every parent were to contribute to School-Force every year, we'd be well on our way to insuring all of our children a quality education.

The School-Force foundation is asking all parents to consider the following levels of giving:

However, the most important thing is that ALL families make a donation.  $2500 is really quite reasonable for some families in this area, and many can afford $1000, but for others maybe even $500 is too much.   Please think about how much you value your child’s education, then consider how important it is to educate all the children of our community well (after all, they all go to Ralston Middle School together) and then give to the level that makes sense for your priorities and your family situation.

Please answer the call and invest in your child’s future!

 

*Of note, some of you may have heard that loss of class-size reduction is a real possibility for next year, potentially resulting in increased class sizes in at least grades K-3.  School-Force board members are talking to the district about how much additional money the foundation would need raise to keep all our teachers and maintain small class sizes.

 

 

 

• Poker Tournament with the Grand Prize a San Francisco get-away weekend (space is limited in the tournament, so pre-registration is suggested) 
• Champagne Gems! Sit back and sip champagne. Is that sparkle an ice cube or did you just win a diamond?
• Casino Tables including Craps, Roulette and Blackjack
• Door Prize and Raffle Prizes including an iPod Nano, a Tahoe weekend, many kids’ camps, and more!
• Live Auction Items including a Casino Party for 20, a Paella Party, a Pebble Beach weekend, or Complete Orthodontia for your child
• Dancing, Hors d’ Oeuvres and Desserts, No Host Bar
• And More!  To see additional details click here.
  

• Online at http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/10651260/128856684/53937499/0/  (where a small service fee will be added)
• At your school site

Contact event chair Deanna Bartee at deejoy@comcast.net with questions, to volunteer, or to pre-register for the poker tournament.

Many large companies (and some small ones) will match your charitable donations to education foundations like School-Force.  This is a wonderful way that your employer encourages YOU to donate to causes you believe in while increasing the breadth of their own charitable contributions.  It’s a win-win situation. 

The challenge?  You, the donor, need to do the initial legwork to get the matching donation.  On top of that, each company has its own specific procedure and guidelines for its matches.   So the only way to *really* know what is possible is to check with your employer yourself.  Some corporations only match certain types of donations (often educational donations do qualify).  Some have limited funds available each quarter, so you need to time your donations well. Some match your entire donation or more, some just a portion.  Some have an online system where you can sign up to have your donation taken directly from your paycheck each month, matched and sent to the foundation.  Others require you to fill out a hard copy form, then they request confirmation from the foundation that you have donated, then they will send the matching funds.  Often this all takes 1-3 months, so it is important to make your donation early enough so the match is received during the foundation fiscal year (which ends June 30th).  Guidelines can also change on short notice depending on the economic climate.  

As a particularly good example, Scholar’s Circle member Stacy Donohue’s company is unusually generous and matches her donation 2:1.  She fills out a simple one-page form that she downloads from the internal company website, attaches a copy of the S-F donation acknowledgment letter that she has received, and gives them to the company finance team, who mails a check for the matching funds to School-Force. 

 

Another donor describes her matching process like this: "Looking for donation matching was really easy.  The information was easily found when searching on my company's intranet.  My company has a giving portal tool that allows me to add the charity of my choice or search for charities that have been added by other employees.  From there all I needed to do was choose my amount and put in my Visa card.  All in all it only took a few minutes and my company matched my donation 100%.  I encourage everyone to check into company matching as if your company has a program. It is so worth the time."

 

For some other companies,  the process is just as simple, but works a bit differently.  The donor needs to complete a one-page form and send it in to the foundation with the donation.  A School-Force volunteer just adds some information to confirm the donation, and mails the form back to the employer.  The employer then sends the matching funds.

 

So, it may be a hassle to figure it out (or it may be very straightforward).  Is it worth it?   Yes!   Last year there were $57,000 in employer matches donated to the S-F foundation.  (That’s the better part of a teacher salary right there.) Chances are we are missing at least that much since not everyone who’s eligible takes advantage of the offer.  Don’t let those potential donations slip away.  Ask about matching donations TODAY! 

And yes, matching funds do count toward Scholar’s Circle membership.  So if you have two children, you can make a $500 donation and have it matched by your company to meet the suggested $1000 donation for your family.  This would then qualify you for Scholar’s Circle membership. 

For more information including FAQs and a partial list of employers who make matching donations, please refer to the School-Force Matching Page.

 

 

 

 

 

The 7th Annual Save the Music it was a great success with earnings estimated close to $70,000!  We hope that everyone who attended had a great time. 

Huge thanks to the army of over 300 volunteers including parents, high school, middle shool students and community members.  This event couldn't have been done without you!   The School-Force foundation is also very grateful to the main sponors, Oracle and Wells Fargo, since these sponsorships are critical to the financial success of the event

 

Many, many additional thanks to Alan Sarver the tireless chair of the festival, and to the many committee heads who made it all happen.  You are a wonderful example to our community.