Challenge Letter:
Willard
Middle School
2524 Stuart Street,
Berkeley, CA 94705
http://saveourgarden.blogspot.com, http://willard.berkeleypta.org
May 9, 2013
Willard Cooking and Gardening Program
Dollar for Dollar Match
All Berkeley public schools will lose their outstanding Gardening & Cooking
programs in October 2013! Federal funding for these programs is being
redirected by the state and other agencies.
Only King Middle School’s Edible School Yard will remain, since it is
funded by a private foundation.
Help us to save the Willard
Cooking and Gardening Program. Willard
parents have created a $5,000 matching fund. Every dollar you give will be
doubled dollar for dollar up to $5,000.
Ask your company, friends and family for a contribution. Help us turn $5,000 into $10,000. We need to reach this goal before the end of
the school year.
Our program is 15 years old! We
teach all grades, more than 500 students, cooking and gardening that
incorporates curriculum-based standards.
Our students and staff grow 20-30 fruits and vegetables on 1/3 of an
acre; teach families in our evening nutrition/cooking program using our
produce; bake over 900 pizzas and can 450 pounds of tomatoes using garden
produce for 4 major school events annually. Staff teach students in our
after-school program; train and employ at-risk teens each summer to work
the farm and sell produce to area restaurants; have trained over 30 AmeriCorps
gardening teachers (50% are still working with children); and train community
volunteers who work in the garden. The Willard Cooking and Gardening program is
the model for 6 schools in the district; raises seedlings and starts for ten
schools; composts waste from area cafes and the local Whole Foods; and supplies
several local restaurants with produce.
Willard’s
program costs $170,000 per year ($33 per child per month). We have raised $50,000
and we are writing grants and holding fundraisers, but we need you to get to
our $100,000 goal.
Please
help! Checks
should be made out to Willard PTA (please specify cooking and gardening program);
or donate online. Donors of $200 or more
will be invited to a pizza party with pizza made in the Willard pizza oven in
our beautiful garden.
For information about the Save the Garden
efforts and events, see the blogsite at: http://saveourgarden.blogspot.com.
If you have any
questions in general, call our principal, Mr. Robert Ithurburn, at
(510)644-6330. If you have questions about
donations, please contact our PTA President, Michele Mancuso, at (510)301-9693.
Sincerely,
Michele Mancuso Sarah Cohen
PTA President Save Willard Cooking & Garden
Committee
Enclosed is a check
for ¨$15 ¨$25 ¨$50 ¨$100 ¨$200
¨$250 ¨$500 ¨$1,000 ¨other $______
Please make out your
check to “Willard PTA” with “Garden” in the memo
Your donation is
tax-deductible. The PTA’s tax ID # is 94-6174782.
Name: _____________________________ Phone/email:
_______ ______________
Address:______________________________________________________________
Please deliver check
to school office or mail to Willard PTA, 2425 Stuart St., Berkeley, CA
94705. To Donate Online: Click the
DONATE button on the PTA website.
Go to http://willard.berkeleypta.org/give.html Pay with a credit
card or a PayPal account.
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