Donation Drive
November 3, 2009
Agassiz parents,
Friends of Agassiz organizes fundraisers and solicits donations to supplement the school's budget. Usually, at this time of year, we begin selling wrapping paper and candy through catalogs. However, only about half of the money we raised through those catalogs went to the school, and many parents questioned the quality and cost of the items we sold. So, instead of catalog sales, this year we are organizing a general donation drive.
You may or may not be aware that Chicago Public Schools funds only a portion of the faculty and programs available at Agassiz Elementary School. For example, currently CPS will only pay for, on average, one regular classroom teacher for every thirty students. In addition CPS does not fund extracurricular activities such as sports programs. Therefore school discretionary funds must be used to supplement CPS allocations in order to continue to keep class sizes small, provide fine arts and athletic programs etc. Discretionary funds come from three different sources: the federal government through No Child Left Behind legislation, the state government through the Supplemental General State Aid program and private fundraising efforts. The amount of discretionary money Agassiz has received from the federal and state government has decreased over the past couple of years and is expected to continue to decline in the coming years. Therefore, the role of private fundraising is more important than in the past in the effort to provide quality education to Agassiz students.
This year's general donation goal is to raise $20,000 for the school by December 15, 2009. [Note: the deadline has been extended to January 28, 2010.] There are many ways to support the donation drive. You can make a direct contribution, solicit donations from family and friends through e-mail, ask your employer about matching donations, or buy a baked good at our bake sale taking place on November 18, 2009.
To provide further incentive to reach this goal, the first $10,000 in donations will be matched by an anonymous group of 10 Agassiz families. Please help us realize the full $10,000 matching funds by participating. We encourage each family to get involved with the donation drive. Other area public schools have a similar drive and they have proven very successful in raising much needed funds for their schools. Together we can do the same for Agassiz.
Every dollar counts! You can make a donation of $50, $150, $250, or any other amount, online through our Paypal account here or by writing a check to Friends of Agassiz and sending it to the school office. Friends of Agassiz is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, and donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
With a successful donation drive, we can help the school continue to meet the educational needs of our children. Please take the time to support our efforts in any way you can. Thank you,
Paul Schearf
President, Friends of Agassiz
Tom Driscoll
Chair, Local School Council
