School fund-raising on the rise School fund-raising on the rise (January 28, 2005)

Education foundation is halfway to meeting goal

By Julie O'Shea

The Mountain View Educational Foundation announced last week it is more than halfway toward its goal of raising $300,000 for the 2004-2005 school year.

The money will be used to pay for art and music classes, after-school sports for grades six through eight and science kits, among other things at the Mountain View-Whisman School District. The foundation also recently handed Graham and Crittenden middle schools checks of $7,000 each for science and technology supplies.

An appreciative Judy Crates, principal at Graham Middle School, told district trustees that the extra cash has brought staff morale way up.

"It was just wonderful," she said at a board meeting last week.

As of Jan. 12, the foundation's fund-raising efforts have pulled in $160,000, 68 percent of which came from district parents. Business contributions constituted 19 percent.

The foundation hopes to raise $80,000 this spring, starting with its annual Monte Carlo casino night in April, which will be sponsored once again by Microsoft. And in May, the foundation will hold its fourth annual golf tournament.

"We are having a good year so far," said foundation president Amy Beare. "It will be a busy spring for us."

Beare said she was pleasantly surprised with the amount of donations coming from the business community. Many companies are moving toward employee-initiated contributions, Beare said, adding that some triple the amount given by their employees.

Mountain View Chamber of Commerce President Carol Olson said this is typical for a lot of big businesses. But in general, "I think education is still a top priority for businesses," Olson said. "That partnership is still really important."

The educational foundation normally raises $150,000 annually, but the group stepped up its effort after the school district's first parcel tax campaign in 2003 failed. It raised $600,000 last school year to keep programs and services running that otherwise would have been axed.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.