Illustration courtesy of Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation
The yard signs given to those who make donations to the Give180 program are hand delivered by student volunteers.
The Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation’s annual Give180 fundraiser is in full swing now that the school year is underway.
The Give180 program aims to have every family in the school system donate $180, $1 for every day of the school year. Funds go to the foundation’s endowment that supports Mountain Brook Schools.
“It’s really a way for every family in the school system to participate in supporting the foundation, because we all benefit from it,” said Rachel Weingartner, executive director of the MBCSF. “It touches every school, every student, every teacher, and so Give180 was created as a way to annually ask all families to give back to the foundation because as a public school system, we benefit so much from what the foundation is able to fund.”
Endowment funds last in perpetuity, meaning that the foundation’s funds are meant to last forever. Typically the investment returns, not the underlying assets, are spent from year to year and allow the fund to be self-sustaining. MBCSF’s endowment currently holds roughly $12 million.
The foundation distributes their annual payout as a grant to Mountain Brook Schools, and last year they granted $587,695. Some things the grant funded include, two math coaches for the elementary schools, the Mountain Brook Schools summer learning conference for teachers, stipends for teachers’ professional development and Phonics First training.
To donate to Give180, visit https://mbgives.org/ or mail a check to 32 Vine St., Mountain Brook, Ala. Participants will receive a yard sign for their donation, hand delivered by student volunteers.
