Thanks to community support, the Public Education Foundation of Evansville has secured a $1,500 Telling Our Story grant. Results from a statewide Facebook contest are official. PEF won just above 26% of votes cast in a close four-way race.
“We appreciate our supporters, their Facebook Friends, and Friends of Friends for voting to secure this grant. Cousins in Dubois County and in Virginia came into play, too!†PEF Executive Director Amy Walker said. “We went from well into last place to jockeying back and forth for first and second during final days. Courier & Press Tweets and articles were a huge help.â€
The grant from the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations (INAPEF) and State Farm supports community education regarding PEF’s work to provide innovative, student-centered programs and projects to local public schools.
“This money allows us to promote the cause, without taking operational or programming funds to do that,†Walker said. “As we look toward our 30th anniversary year during 2015-16 academic year, this is a nice head start to telling the PEF story.â€
Franklin Education Connection secured the most votes, followed by PEF. Rounding out third and fourth place were Wayne Township Education Foundation and Mishawaka Education Foundation respectively.
The PEF grant is titled “Thirty Years, 300,000 Students, 30 Stories, 300 Seconds!†and studies results of PEF’s first 30 years. Since its founding in 1985, PEF has provided more than $7 million to more than 16,500 projects and programs in local public schools. The Summer Musical and House Project are two of its flagship education programs.  The agency has enhanced the public education of more than 300,000 students during the last nearly 30 years.
For more information about the Public Education Foundation of Evansville, also see www.pefevansville.org.
