Foundation @ FCOE honored for excellence

The Foundation @ FCOE received the 2018 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization Foundation Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals California Valley Chapter. The Foundation was organized to support Fresno County students through excellence, access and innovation by raising funds in addition to annual school budgets. The Foundation reached an annual revenue in excess of $1,000,000 within the first three years in operation, providing funds that go beyond the basics in public education. 

Understanding the critical nexus between health and education, the Foundation has successfully secured funding to impact the health and wellbeing of students, such as assisting foster youth with dorm housing essentials, dental and vision screenings and early language/literacy development in children ages 0 – 5 years. Examples of engaging the community include the Education Matters weekly news stories on KSEE 24, which highlight success stories in education throughout the Valley and the Wells Fargo Backpack Buddies program, which provides backpacks for the new school year. Many of the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools’ academic student events were sponsored by local businesses, including the Spell-Off, MathCounts, Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial and Science Fair. 

The Foundation was a catalyst in supporting the Reading Heart book drive, which addresses the national need to improve literacy rates. It sought $180,000 in grant funds to develop a comprehensive arts education advocacy campaign and infrastructure, which research indicates is essential in dropout prevention and improved graduation rates. In 2015, the Foundation hosted the Fresno GradNation Summit to join the national graduation rate challenge. The Foundation @ FCOE has moved the community to understand that investing in education is everyone’s business.