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GPEF receives matching grants

Fri, 10/04/2019 - 4:43 pm
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    Graham Public Education Foundation board presented the check in the amount presented to teachers for the 2018-2019 year during the Steers homecoming game Friday, Sept. 27. GPEF provides funding to the district, outside of the budget, through a grant application process and obtains money through donations and fundraising events such as the Kitchen Crawl. The board for GPEF, with members of the school district administration, review the requests and choose grants would make an impact. (Leader photo by Mike Williams)
editor@grahamleader.com

Graham Public Education Foundation announced, during their Hall of Honor ceremony last Friday, the creation of an endowment fund with matching grants provided by local benefactors up to $500,000.

GPEF was established as a nonprofit organization in October 2010 by an action of the Graham ISD board of trustees, according to information from GPEF. The organization operates independently from the district, but in cooperation.

GPEF provides funding to the district, outside of the budget, through a grant application process and obtains money through donations and fundraising events such as the Kitchen Crawl. The board for GPEF, with members of the school district administration, review the requests and choose grants would make an impact. GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse, who serves as the GISD liaison for the organization, said the endowment has been something in the works for the organization.

“A couple of years ago, the board put their heads together and said that we would like to at some point have an endowed foundation and through some gracious gifts from some major benefactors, that is going to be kicked off,” Cruse said during the Hall of Honor ceremony. “You will start hearing more and more about it and if you would like to participate in the foundation toward the endowment, they (the board) would love to talk to you.”

In May 2019, The Allar Company made a $500,000 donation to the endowment fund and pledged to match dollar-for-dollar any additional pledges up to $500,000. Two months later in July 2019, the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation: Bertha Foundation Donor Advised Fund also pledged to match up to $500,000.

The endowment funds, according to a GPEF informational brochure, may only be used to provide “resources and personnel to enhance to enhance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), CTE (Career and Technology Education), and fine arts programs, etc.”

For more information or to donate, call the GISD Administration Office at 940-549-0595 or email gpef@grahamisd.org. Donations can also be made online from their website at www.grahamisd.com/150693_2.

For the rest of the story, see the Saturday, Oct. 5 edition of The Graham Leader.