Our Community Partnerships Director Mary Bartzen is never surprised by the requests for help she hears or reads when she answers the phone or opens an email from a teacher, principal, or social worker. Whatever it is, she knows her first outreach is to our Adopt-a-School partners.
SNACKS
There is well-documented research that a hungry child struggles to focus and concentrate, which affects their academic achievement. So, when Sandburg Elementary, where 65% of students receive free or reduced-fee meals, recently learned that a program providing snacks three days per week will end in early May, it was a high priority to find another way to fill hungry bellies.
“When we received the news that the district snack grant would not last for the whole school year, our Adopt-a-School partners immediately and selflessly stepped up, ensuring that all of our students will have a healthy snack each day. We know that it is hard for students to learn when they are hungry and the snacks we will be able to purchase thanks to these generous donations will fuel our students’ thinking minds so that we can finish the year strong!” ––Lucy Sieber, Sandburg Elementary Assistant Principal.
We are grateful to Sandburg Adopt-a-School partners Door Creek Church and Group Health Cooperative for quickly responding with financial support, providing over 80% of the needed $3,700 to fill this important need for so many of our students.
PULL-UPS
Anana Elementary School had a significant need for Pull-ups (for both the day and nighttime varieties) for several students whose parents are not able to provide adequate supplies.
The Foundation wants to help both the teachers who work closely with these students and the students and their families so that the stress and anxiety from accidents don’t spill over into student school engagement and performance. A 99-count package of Pull-ups costs $59 and will last approximately three weeks. The overnight version 44-count pack is $30 to $35. This adds up to approximately $100 per month, an expense that many families simply cannot meet. There is certainly no line item in school budgets for Pull-ups.
We are so grateful to Anana Elementary Adopt-a-School partner, Group Health Cooperative for responding to the request for Pull-ups the very next day, with a delivery right to the school.
MPSF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Foundation, supported solely by donations. Your gifts make this work possible.
