Geyserville Ed Foundation renews Partners in Business

The Geyserville Educational Foundation kicked off its annual
Partners in Business fundraiser last week with letters inviting the
community to pitch in to help provide the community’s children with
the best experience possible.
Last year the foundation donated more than $20,000 to the
Geyserville Unified School District to pay for activities, programs
and supplies that schools otherwise would have gone without.
District leaders say the foundation’s work has played an important
role in enriching education in the community.
“Having the educational foundation is just imperative to our
school district,” said school board president Kelly Osman. “They
not only help us fill the gap which we have in the economic
climate, they help supplement our programs and field trips. They
really help to keep things going that we wouldn’t do without
them.”
District superintendent Joe Carnation believes the Foundation
serves as a catalyst in establishing a positive culture in
Geyserville schools. “We have community members, former graduates
and faculty members all working together and it translates into
good things for the kids,” he said. “They’ve been, particularly in
these financial times, a godsend.”
In the past year the foundation has paid for new technology at
both the elementary and high school, scholarships for a leadership
training course, a Shakespeare field trip and in-house performance,
supplies for the culinary program, a trip to a ropes course for
eighth graders and many other programs and supplies.
“We’re just trying to take the place with all the budget cuts so
the kids will still get the field trips,” said foundation treasurer
Charlotte LeGallee. “The schools just don’t have the money
anymore.”
The Geyserville Educational Foundation has a history dating back
to the 1980s and $80,000 in the bank. The reserves allow the
foundation to continue to give annually even in times of economic
hardship. The nation’s current recession led, in part, to the
foundation’s decision not to hold its annual Celebrate Geyserville
gala, an event that brings in about $20,000 a year.
While the event will return next fall, LeGallee said the
Partners in Business program is more important than ever this year
to keep the fundraising dollars coming in. She’s well aware that
many regular donors are tightening their wallets to ride out the
recession. “I really don’t know how it’s going to be,” she said.
“We have so many people who will try their darndest to help us.
It’s really a great community.”
The Partners in Business asks for $100 or $500 donations. Those
who donate $100 will be named a Partner in Business and will
receive a certificate and inclusion on a banner hung at the Chamber
of Commerce dinner and in the Celebrate Geyserville program. Those
who donate $500 will also be included on a Partners in Business
plaque at the Geyserville Educational Park.
For more information contact LeGallee at 433-4042 or Rick Klug
at 857-3592.