Local Organizations Fund Stamford Public Education Foundation Programs

From the Stamford Public Education Foundation:

STAMFORD, CT - The Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF), a non-profit organization that has served thousands of students and their families since 1996, today announced than during the past two months it has received funding from a variety of community-minded organizations: Kinder Morgan Foundation, Connecticut Mentoring Fund, First Niagara Foundation, and Whole Foods Market. The funding will be used to enhance and expand its programs, including its flagship program, the Stamford Mentoring Program, which served nearly 750 students needing additional academic and/or social support during the 2015/2016 school year. The Kinder Morgan Foundation awarded SPEF $2,000 in support of the Odyssey of the Mind program. The Kinder Morgan Foundation works to empower students to be tomorrow’s leaders through science, math, and music programs. The objective of Stamford Odyssey of the Mind is to create a positive and creative experience, outside of the normal classroom, where participating students have fun, work collaboratively, and learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills.

First Niagara, which was recently acquired by KeyCorp, donated $2,500 to SPEF to help fund mentoring and college and career readiness programs. First Niagara is committed to helping the Stamford community thrive by eliminating the achievement gap in local schools.

The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership, an initiative of The Governor's Prevention Partnership, awarded SPEF $5,000 to implement the MentorCore System, which will help the Foundation manage data about the mentoring program. This funding will enable SPEF to cover the 3-year cost of MentorCore and support the staff time needed to implement and oversee the transition to this new data management system.

SPEF also received funding from Whole Foods Market Darien. Whole Foods Market Darien hosted a 5% give-back day on September 13th in which they pledged that five percent of every purchase would go directly to support the programs and mission of SPEF. By stocking up on groceries, Whole Foods Market shoppers provided approximately $5,000 worth of funding to enhance and enrich SPEF’s programs.

Image via the Stamford Public Education Foundation.