SchoolPower's Community Campaign raises $510,000
SchoolPower's annual Community Campaign phone-a-thon made more than $510,000, a record for the foundation, with 612 donors and 64 parent volunteers manning the phones, according to a news release.
SchoolPower hosts the Community Campaign, its largest fundraiser, every fall and depends on parent volunteers to call upon every family in Laguna Beach schools for donations in support of public education. The fundraiser, led by campaign vice president Carol Normandin for the sixth time, saw an increase in the number of callers, donors and first-time contributors.
Big donations came from the Martini Family, who not only said they were match all donations brought in on the fifth calling night, but also said pledged to double those coming from first-time donors. Their initial project donation was $25,000, but that grew to $64,654.
"My dad always told me, 'If you can turn a dollar into two by something you do, that is always a win-win,'" Brent Martini said in a statement. "It's so satisfying to see these dollars deployed immediately in our kids' classrooms because the principals support cutting-edge ideas and the teachers are extremely enthusiastic to put committed resources right to work. The more we do as a community to support public schools, the more outstanding the educational experience will be for our kids."