Community organizations are joining forces to support Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools amid its ongoing financial crisis.
Nonprofits, faith-based groups, business leaders and advocates have launched a website to coordinate donations for the district.
The site links to three funds: one for urgently needed school supplies, another to cover services like student health assessments and volunteer background checks, and a third, specifically for books.
Marni Eisner, the executive director of the Education Foundation for the district, says the new collaborative worked with the interim superintendent to determine how to fulfill the most pressing, short-term needs first — but assistance won’t end there.
“This is just the start of what we know is going to be a long effort, but all striving towards better schools that really achieve excellence and equity for all of our children," she said.
Community philanthropists Mike and Wendy Brenner have pledged $500,000 to match all contributions made to the school supply fund. Once that fund reaches $1.4 million — the amount needed to make up for school supply budget cuts— Eisner says the collaborative will distribute checks directly to each individual school.
The site also provides information about other ways to support the district, like volunteering, shopping schools' Amazon wishlists, and building school-based partnerships.
In addition to the Education Foundation, other partners in the collaborative include The Winston-Salem Foundation, Bookmarks, The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Action4Equity and Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.