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« Salve soccer suspension tied to hazing incident | Today | Bomb threat evacuates Woonsocket High » October 2, 2007Online giving to schools makes push in Providence
PROVIDENCE -- A social studies teacher in Brooklyn wants 22 tickets to take her girls to The Lion King. A biology teacher in Flushing, N.Y., wants to buy a set of carnivorous plants for her 10th grade science class. A fifth-grade teacher wants to introduce her students to farm-fresh food at the Union Square Farmer’s Market in Manhattan. What do all of these projects have in common? They were paid for by one or more “citizen philanthropists,” individual donors who don’t have the resources of a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffet, but who want to make a difference in small but meaningful ways. Today, the founder of DonorsChoose.org, Charles Best, announced the arrival of this Web-based giving program at the Fortes Elementary School, where he was joined by Mayor David N. Cicilline, Supt. Donnie Evans and Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith. Best, a Yale University graduate, was a novice social studies teacher in the Bronx when he dreamed up the idea of using the Web to connect small donors to worthy public school projects. “It was my first year of teaching,” Best said, “and we were all griping about not having enough money to do our projects. I figured there must be some way to fund a classroom project and then see how the money was being spent.” Inspired by requests from around the country, DonorsChoose decided to go national, which means that the Web site is now open to any public school in the United States. Best selected Providence to announce the program’s national push because Cicilline was so enthusiastic about the project after hearing about it from City Councilman Cliff Wood. -- Journal staff writer Linda Borg Best, who was living at home with his parents at the time, used his students to brainstorm how the program would work. A donor logs onto the Web site and then uses keywords to identify a project of interest. Perhaps, the donor loves gardening. Using the words, gardening and Providence, the site will pull up a list of school projects that involve both keywords. DonorsChoose volunteers screen each proposal before it is posted online and verify that the teacher and the project meet the program’s eligibility requirements. The organization buys the materials and ships the items to the school along with a disposable camera and a stamped envelope in which to enclose student feedback. Students write thank-you notes to the donors and DonorsChoose develops the photos, compiles the letters and mails them to the donors.
The Rhode Island Foundation has already promised $30,000 to get the program off the ground, and Best said that one way the seed money might be spent is to buy gift certificates and give them out to potential donors as a way to jump-start the effort. “I encourage people in the business community to go this Web site,” Cicilline said. “You can choose to support a class, a school, a field trip, even a book. You can make a pledge of $10 and up. Every donor gets a camera with pictures of the project. What you get in return is a vivid image of what your donation bought.” Posted by Mike McKinney CommentsPost a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006