PUBLISHER'S CORNER
CREATIVE FUNDRAISING AND GIVING TONY CORPIN, PUBLISHER N
early every year I see student car-wash fundraisers, girl scouts selling cookies or sports teams trying to raise money for a trip. All these kids are trying to achieve a goal for their respective organizations. I remember those days when I was that kid selling Helen Grace candy bars door to door for the St. James School candy drive. Tinking back, there were countless people that helped be reach my goal by supporting
my efforts and donating toward whatever cause I was championing at the time. One charity that is important in my life is the Children’s Dental Health Clinic of Long
Beach, Calif. In fact my mother -in-law is a development director there, and I’m happy to support her organization and cause. She always mentions to me how so many unprivileged kids are in need and the pressure that she is under everyday to deliver services to as many kids as possible. Te money that the state reimburses doesn’t even cover a fraction of the overall costs involved. Terefore that organization can only survive through donations made from private donors, grants, endow- ments, charitable trusts or corporations. Just like schools that are under pressure to offer services to students. Because state fund-
ing sources are tight, programs like transportation are being cut back. School administrators have been getting very creative on where the funding comes from to ensure valuable services like transportation remain intact. Have you considered all of the creative funding options available to you? Some schools, like Harper High in Chicago, have setup donation pages for people to make
contributions. At the time of this writing the school had collected over $248,000 in donations by 4,225 donors according to their website. Does your school offer a donation page? Another recent example of charitable giving came from husband and wife philanthropists
John and Laura Arnold who donated $10 million of their own money to the National Head Start Association to help keep open local agencies that were forced to close. Granted, the Arnolds are billionaires, but that doesn’t discount how impressive their donation was. When I go online, I come across an endless amount of charities, but there are quite a few
that really relate back to our school transportation industry. One of those that made head- lines last year was the story of bus monitor Karen Klein who was a bullied on her school bus by one of the children. She had received more than $700,000, much of which she turned into her own foundation that targets bulling. And, of course, the unintended benefit of that exposure was bringing to light the everyday issue of bullying on school buses, not just kids on kids but kids on drivers, monitors or other school staff. Other organizations include Te Center for Missing and Exploited Children, John Walsh
of America’s Most Wanted and the 2010 STN EXPO keynote speaker is a spokesman. Another EXPO keynote speaker, Christopher Gardner, who wrote the book that inspired the motion picture “Te Pursuit of Happyness,” gives to his local community in Chicago. One of those recent recipients was a school bus driver was awarded $10,000 for exemplary work in the community.
I think the public needs to hear from their local schools on the good things that are taking place and the need for financial assistance to continue those efforts. People have the ability to come together for a cause that they all can relate to like children’s education. So get on Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets to get the word out to your parents. It just takes a little publicity to start things moving in a positive direction.
58 School Transportation News November 2013
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