Education Foundation Raises Money for ALL Culver City Schools

Marcia Shulman

NOTE: This is the seventh in a series of Culver City Progress Blog articles highlighting local community groups doing good work in Culver City. Please see the postings on the Culver City Sister City Committee here and here, on the Martin Luther King Planning Committee here, on Shoes for the Homeless here, on the Culver City Youth Health Center here, and on the Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation here.

The Culver City Education Foundation has been supporting the Culver City
schools for over thirty years. Founded in 1981, CCEF is dedicated to supporting and enhancing quality educational programs for every student in the Culver City Unified School District. To accomplish this goal, the Foundation reaches out to the community to secure funds and resources. What sets CCEF apart from other fundraising groups in the district is that we support all of the schools in the district, the elementary and secondary schools as well as the preschool and adult school programs. The Foundation recognizes that we serve a population with diverse needs and therefore collaborates with other parent groups, administrators, teachers, and community members to accomplish our mission.
CCEF donates funds to the school district through a competitive grants program for classroom teachers and school principals and also through directed donations. The funds for the CCEF grant programs are raised at CCEF’s major fundraising event of the year, our Tribute to the Stars, which is held in May. CCEF partners with businesses, foundations, and community members to facilitate directed donations to the schools.
Through these efforts, the CCEF Board of Trustees is able to fund programs that have a strong academic focus, provide enrichment in the arts, and impact the largest number of students. In the 2010-2011 school year, we were able to fund programs at all of the Culver City schools in the arts, literacy, mathematics, science, and technology totaling over $225,000.
This past fall, as a direct response to the severe cutbacks in school funding at the state level, the Culver City Education Foundation launched its most ambitious fundraising effort ever, All For 1. CCEF reached out to all members of the Culver City school community and was successful in recruiting over 300 new supporters and raising over $85,000. These funds will sustain academic support and intervention programs at all levels in the school district. In September of this year, CCEF will launch the second year
of the All For 1 campaign with the hope of surpassing last year’s success.
We are excited to invite members of the community to our Tribute to the Stars, coming up on May 11, 2012 at the Sony Pictures Studios Main Street. The Stars of Culver City to be honored at this event include Teacher of the Year Kari Fretham, Classified Employee of the Year Anissa McCullen, and Volunteers of the Year from each school site. Guests at the Tribute will be entertained by street performers, dine on delicious dishes from dozens of local restaurants, bid on irresistible auction items, and dance the night away. For tickets to the Tribute to the Stars or for more information
about the Education Foundation, please visit our website at  www.CCEF90230.org or call 310 842-4200 ext. 4212.

Marcia Shulman is the President of the Culver City Education Foundation