Peninsula-born Chrisie Wendin discovered Menlo Park some 20 years ago through a fortuitous house-sitting gig on Oak Grove. Once married, she settled down to raise her family in the Willows. Chrisie is an award-winning editor who’s been covering business and technology for the last two decades, having “been there” during the heady days of many now-defunct magazines. Currently working at a professional services firm on a custom business publication, Chrisie sees contributing to InMenlo as pure fun.
Chrisie has written 48 article(s) for InMenlo.
Talk about a challenge: Raising $4 million for Menlo Park’s schools in a single year. That’s what the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation (MPAEF) aims to do — with the help of parents, local business, and the broader community. As part of the ambitious effort, the organization has rolled out a new matching grant that it hopes will inspire additional donations to the MPAEF.
Explains MPAEF Executive Director Lynne Van Tilburg, “The Foundation 500 Challenge is an incredible opportunity for those who have yet to donate to the MPAEF. The grant kicks in for new or increased donations. It’s like instantly doubling your donation, so we hope the community will take full advantage of the incentive before the program concludes next month.”
As its name suggests, the Foundation 500′s goal is to raise $500,000 — half through new or increased donations and half through the grant, which is being funded by a group of generous district families.
“The challenge grant is crucial in helping us address the current situation in our schools, where state funding keeps declining while enrollment keeps increasing. Like all of the money we raise, the Foundation 500 funds will enable us to continue to support an enriched education filled with art teachers, music teachers, science aides, and librarians, as well as reduced class sizes and teaching innovation through the Jeanie Ritchie Grant Program,” says Van Tilburg.
While District parents are especially encouraged to give, the MPAEF hopes that local businesses and other community members will consider taking advantage of the Foundation 500 Challenge. Van Tilburg reminds us, “Everyone benefits when our schools are strong.”
For more information on the Foundation 500 Challenge or to pledge online, see the MPAEF website.
Café Zoe is conducting a different kind of holiday drive this year. In an email to InMenlo, owner Kathleen Daly explains:
”There are a lot of organizations doing a lot of amazing things for people over the holiday season. There are tons of food, toy, and clothing drives that make a difference in the lives of those without the means to celebrate the way others do. The results are awesome.
We at Cafe Zoe recently became aware of a different kind of need this holiday. Willow Oaks, our local Kindergarten-8th grade school that educates students from East Menlo Park and Palo Alto has 31 classrooms. Eleven of those classrooms lack the simple technology needed to project visuals in the classroom. A document camera and LCD projector helps the teachers use visual examples to achieve their goals in educating the young minds of the future.
We cannot think of a better way to give back this holiday season. This is far too important. Each system costs approximately $1,000. Our goal is to raise funds to buy the eleven systems. Every donation makes a difference and will help us reach the goal.”
Those interested in helping, can make donations at Café Zoe, 1929 Menalto Ave. Donations are tax deductible and checks should be made payable to Willow Oaks School/Ravenswood School District.
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