101 Donations Club marks milestone
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The Mount Ayr Raider Education Foundation’s 101 Donations Club reached a milestone recently as its donations to students, teachers, and classrooms crossed the $100,000 mark. To date, the organization has funded over $102,000 to support education in the Mount Ayr district.
Founded in 2017, the 101 Donations Club aimed to bolster the Mount Ayr Community School Endowment, which at that time totaled only $13,000. (Today, that amount has grown to over $120,000.)
Inspired by a televised report about a group of business owners in Des Moines who came together to pledge a yearly donation to charities in their area, a group of Mount Ayr graduates formed what came to be known as the 101 Donations Club.
The goal of the newly formed club was to attract at least 101 local individuals or organizations who would pledge $100 each year to fund the philanthropic goals of the club.
As of this year, the 101 Donations Club boasts 107 members.
The Foundation and 101 Donations Club are overseen entirely by volunteers, and 100 percent of all money raised goes back to the classrooms and students to enhance their educational experience in the Mount Ayr schools.
Current Foundation officers include President David Greene, vice president Jill Weehler, secretary Tess Rinehart, and treasurer Tracy Giles.
The Foundation accepts grant applications from both students and teachers throughout the year to fund a variety of requests for enhancements to classrooms not covered in the annual school budget. Grants have included funding for books, document cameras, an enclosed trailer for the construction tech class, robotics, enhancements in the shop area, scholarships, a visit last year from the SkyDome Planetarium, and many other worthy projects. A grant application from a student was instrumental in the installation of water bottle filling stations in both the elementary and high school buildings.
In addition, each year the Foundation gives new teachers to the district $101 to spend in their classrooms as they see fit.
The Foundation accepts scholarship applications from graduating seniors, but each application comes with a unique twist. Each applicant is asked to propose an item or project to receive a matching grant in the amount of the scholarship. Donations to the Junior Raiders football program and baskets of books on school buses are two such projects the Foundation has funded from the input by seniors.
Membership in the 101 Donations Club are accepted at any time.
Much more information can be found on the Mount Ayr Raider Education Foundation Facebook page or by emailing foundation@mtayrschools.org.
