Dear Dear Community Partner,

Happy holidays! We hope this season brings you joy and peace and that you have a wonderful time spending it with friends and family.

As the new year approaches, I wanted to share with you the impact supporters like you have allowed us to make this year in support of public education in West Contra Costa County. We would not have been able to achieve these accomplishments without your generous support.

In the Spring of 2014, the Ed Fund awarded $230,000 in college scholarships to 80 graduating high school seniors from 9 different West Contra Costa County public high schools, marking over one million dollars in scholarships awarded by the Ed Fund to date. Currently, these students are enrolled in 30 colleges across the nation. Our scholarship winners are enrolled in a cohort program which provides them with the academic, social and emotional support to successfully complete their first year of college. You may read about their experiences on our scholars' blog.

The Ed Fund also ramped up our College Access Initiative to assist students with the college application and matriculation process. Through our financial aid campaign, the financial aid application completion rate increased from 33% in 2012 to 66% in 2014. As a result, an additional 300 families in West Contra Costa County received financial aid. The vast majority of our students who qualified received financial aid. Our Getting Ready for College Conference in the Fall of 2014 helped demystify the college application process for our attendees in order to help increase the number of students in our school district who choose to attend college.

The Ed Fund's Get Your Summer On! campaign helped coordinate summer activities in West Contra Costa County to improve the number and quality of summer program spots available to our students. Studies have shown a lack of organized summer activities causes students to regress and thus negatively impacts their academic achievement.

Through a generous bequest by Brad Bradley, this year the focus area of the Ed Fund's Grants Program is in support of the development of arts and music programs for West Contra  Costa County Unified School District students. This fall, the Ed Fund awarded $27,500 in Arts & Music Impact Grants for the 2014-2015 school year.

We were especially honored to have the privilege of awarding our Teaching Excellence Awards this year. In April, we honored four teachers to highlight their commitment to their profession, including Keith Johnson, El Cerrito High School, Bruce McCormick, Portola Middle School, Adam Quintero, DeJean Middle School, and Pat Simon, Montalvin Manor Elementary School.

We look forward to continuing our work in 2015 with your support. We are extremely grateful to you for your commitment to public education in West Contra Costa County.

Sincerely,

Joel Mackey
Executive Director
 

Program Spotlight: Scholarships

Our scholarship winners are close to completing their first term of college! On December 19th, the Ed Fund will be hosting the 5th Annual Scholars' Luncheon for all 80 of the Ed Fund scholarship winners. At this luncheon, scholarship winners will have an opportunity to network with each other and learn essential job-hunting skills like resume and cover letter writing.

If you would like to volunteer at the Scholars' Luncheon, please contact Nicole Arenal, Program Associate. The Ed Fund is also looking for volunteers to serve as year-round mentors for our scholarship students. If you would like to help a student succeed in their first year of college, please contact the Ed Fund.

#Giving Tuesday

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #Giving Tuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back the first Tuesday of every December. Today, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. We hope that you will consider making a donation to the Ed Fund in support of public education in West Contra Costa County this #Giving Tuesday.