Recently, Mike Jones, North Thurston Education Foundation Executive Director, and Deanna East, McKenney Vento Student Navigator, went on a shopping spree to fill the Kids Closet at the Family & Youth Resource Center.
TOGETHER! is excited to announce they are participating in a crowd-funding campaign called Give Local to raise $15,000 for Host Homes. When they meet their goal, someone will take a plunge in a DUNK TANK. The current list of potential dunkees includes TOGETHER! team members Gaby Hyre (Host Homes Director), Meagan Darrow (Executive Director), & Katherine Flynn (Board President), plus County Commissioner Carolina Mejia.
To reach their goal, they need YOUR help. Will you consider becoming a Champion? It’s as easy as 1-2-3:
1. Visit https://spsgives.org/o/
the lower right that says “Get Your Personal Share Link.”
2. Receive an email from [email protected] (
3. Share the campaign with friends via email, text, Facebook, Instagram or any way you like.
When: The campaign runs now – Nov. 19. Wednesdays Nov. 10 & 17 are Giving Bonus Wednesdays, meaning you could win a $100 bonus to donate to a participating organization of your choosing (like Host Homes!)
TOGETHER! Host Homes is a community-based, short-term housing response to help meet the needs of unaccompanied high school students in North Thurston and Tumwater School Districts.
Learn more here.
Thank you to Kenna and her team from Dutch Bros Coffee. They donated coffee and hot chocolate to volunteers at a recent coat giveaway. They also donated Dutch Bros Coffee gift cards that NTPS Student Navigators will use as incentive cards for students.
Save the date — Thursday, November 11th — MOD Pizza is donating 20% of takeout orders to North Thurston Education Foundation! Take a night off from cooking and join us in eating for a great cause. Please click here to register today!
MOD Pizza accepts Takeout, Delivery & Pick up orders made online using the promo code GR202234N or in store mentioning North Thurston Education Foundation. You can RSVP & see all details here: https://grouprai.se/
1.) How did you first get involved with NTEF?
I first became involved with NTEF as a citizen donor, then as a school principal who saw first-hand the generosity of NTEF and its supporters and the support provided to students in the district.
2.) How do you enjoy spending your free time?
Free Time? Well, I have two teenagers and four pets, so there is not much free time in my life right now!
3.) How do you believe the community can best support the work and mission of NTEF?
I’d say to give! Even small contributions can help. If you hear of a student or family in the district who needs help, reach out to NTEF for support and available resources.
Thank You to the attendees and sponsors for joining us at the 19th Annual “Because of You” Fundraising Luncheon on Friday, October 15. “Because of You!” we raised over $53,000 to support low-income students in the North Thurston Public Schools.
Thanks to your generosity, we have been able to raise our program support from $110,000 in 2015 to a budget this year of $626,000 to provide food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, ASB cards, music rentals, tutoring, mental health counseling, and scholarships to name a few.
We could not do this important work for students in North Thurston Public Schools without your support!
*Photo Courtesy Clair Ferris
“We currently have over 425 homeless youth in our district which includes 95 unaccompanied homeless youth. As you can imagine, there are varying needs for the students we work with; some simply need a warm coat and a good pair of shoes, while others are struggling to keep from losing their housing. North Thurston Education Foundation has been able assist in a wide variety of ways since the start of the new school year. Recently we had a family who has struggled with homelessness for years, and because of the support of NTEF, this single parent of three young children was able to get into stable housing for the first time in over 9 years. She was in tears as she shared how excited she was to finally have a home for her children.
NTEF has also been busy helping with fuel cards for families in our district. We are currently in a bus driver crisis across the country, so it has been difficult to set up school transportation for many of our students who are highly mobile (moving from place to place.) Fortunately, have been able to provide them with fuel cards to help with transporting their children while we work to get a bus set up.
Some additional supports the foundation has been able to assist with were a booster seat for a preschooler whose parent couldn’t afford one so the child was riding is a regular seatbelt, a sports physical for an unaccompanied homeless youth who yearned to participate in a school sport, but couldn’t until a physical exam was completed, purchasing books for another unaccompanied homeless youth who is participating in SPSCC Running Start, and an Uber for a parent who doesn’t have a vehicle to be able to pick their sick child up from school.
These are only a few of the many, many supports that NTEF provides for our students and their families. We are so fortunate to have the amazing partnership with NTEF!”
Signed,
Brenda McAferty
McKinney Vento & Foster Care Liaison
North Thurston Public Schools