Opportunity GrantED Annual Report 2021

Campaign URL Copy

• Twitter 0 tweets

• Subscribe
• Past Issues
• RSS
• Translate
  • English
  • العربية
  • Afrikaans
  • беларуская мова
  • български
  • català
  • 中文（简体）
  • 中文（繁體）
  • Hrvatski
  • Česky
  • Dansk
  • eesti keel
  • Nederlands
  • Suomi
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • Ελληνική
  • हिन्दी
  • Magyar
  • Gaeilge
  • Indonesia
  • íslenska
  • Italiano
  • 日本語
  • ភាសាខ្មែរ
  • 한국어
  • македонски јазик
  • بهاس ملايو
  • Malti
  • Norsk
  • Polski
  • Português
  • Português - Portugal
  • Română
  • Русский
  • Español
  • Kiswahili
  • Svenska
  • עברית
  • Lietuvių
  • latviešu
  • slovenčina
  • slovenščina
  • српски
  • தமிழ்
  • ภาษาไทย
  • Türkçe
  • Filipino
  • украї́нська
  • Tiếng Việt

No one could predict what 2020 would bring.

View this email in your browser Annual Report 2021 Dear Opportunity G​​rantED Family, No one could predict what 2020 would bring us. Teachers and students were challenged in unprecedented ways as we faced a global pandemic. Opportunity GrantED worked with teachers and administrators to find the most effective ways to support them and their students. Flexibility, commitment, and resilience were proven to be invaluable qualities this year. During this challenging time, our donors stood behind our mission and, since August 2020, we were able to raise over $40,000 for our Fall and Spring Grant Cycles. These donations funded 58 grants to help more than 2,000 students in underserved communities in the Chicago Public School system. Thank you to everyone for helping to continue the work of Opportunity GrantED this year. From the dedicated teachers who participated in our Fall and Spring Grant Cycles, to the donors funding the requests, and to the tireless volunteers helping with behind-the-scenes work, --WE ARE SO GRATEFUL! Opportunity GrantED exists because of our Grant Recipients, Donors, and Volunteers. Year in Review Fall Grant Cycle-September 2020 With remote learning throughout CPS, we weren’t sure what our Fall Grant Cycle would look like. What would teachers need to support their students and keep them engaged and connected to their school work? How could Opportunity GrantED make the most meaningful impact? We received 22 grant applications with a total dollar request of over $48,000! Requested items included color printers, books, document cameras, STEM equipment, headphones and digital licenses to be used in remote learning. The majority of our funding purchased digital licenses like NEWSELA, Bookflix, Prodigy, Epic and Imagine Learning to support teachers’ remote learning efforts. Spring Grant Cycle-March 2021 Our Spring Grant Cycle took place just as students were returning to the classrooms after a year of remote learning. The timing was perfect as teachers were ready to welcome the children back to in-person learning. We awarded 36 grants, including over 200 books, a 3-D printer, materials for science projects, art supplies, flexible seating, printers, document cameras, and video equipment. Dollars for Devices-Summer 2021 This summer, Opportunity GrantED partnered with Eric Smoot, owner of Redefined Fitness, a local Wilmette business, for a collaborative campaign called Dollars for Devices. This was a separate fundraising initiative from our Fall and Spring Grant Cycles. We had an initial fundraising goal to purchase 100 chromebooks and cases for students from the Sherman School on the southwest side of Chicago who don't have access to devices at their homes. Within days of launching the campaign we met that goal, and then doubled it! We are so excited to provide 200 Chromebooks to students in the coming weeks. Follow us on social media to find out more about when these devices will be delivered. Fundraising In the midst of a global pandemic, it was more important than ever to provide essential supplies to those in need. We continued to fundraise through our social media pages and our donor support was overwhelming! We raised more in the last year than we have in any other 12-month span. Since we launched just over 2 years ago, we have raised over $88,000! The work we are able to do is because of our generous donors. In addition to individual donors, we had several local businesses approach us  for fundraising partnerships, including the Bottle Shop, Chia Leah, Soup Explorers, Beautycounter and Redefined Fitness. We are so thankful to these businesses for supporting our mission and helping to fund more grants. Please contact us at info@opportunity-granted.org if you have any partnership opportunities for Opportunity GrantED! Ways to Support Opportunity GrantED We are so grateful for all of the support we have received over these last two years. If you are looking for ways to get involved with Opportunity GrantED, we ask for your help in any of the following ways: Make a tax deductible donation today!  Follow us on social media! Like and share our social media posts on your personal pages to engage your friends in the work we are doing. Look for us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Share our website with anyone you think may be interested in applying for a grant or would like to know more about Opportunity GrantED. Thank You Donors With deep appreciation for our donors, Opportunity GrantED funded 58 grants during the 2020-2021 school year. Below are our donors who contributed from August 2020-August 2021. Donations up to $249 Anonymous Jack Andrus Melisa Bowie Lisa Cohen Jeff and Kristen Danielson Julia and Ben Goebel Matthew Moline Aimee Koski Rebecca Lieber Alison and Rob Lisiak Sara and Matt Winstanley Wynette and Clay Barnard Carrie and Steve Fowler Linda Yeh-Ostrinksy, Soup Explorers Jenine and Owen Tubergen Brenda Werth Donations of $250-$499 Emily Axelrod Wendy and Jud Baker Gary and Sue Carpenter Eric and Kim Simon Robin and Craig Thompson Donations of $500-$999 Rachel Arend, Beautycounter Leah Bostrom, Chia Leah Nicole and Chad Goven Elizabeth Lightbody The Truszkowski Family Foundation Donations of $1000-$4999 Cara and Carter Andrus Bill and Sallie Bowie Jan Bowie Toby and Michele Coffey Dean and Laura Egerter Richard and Mair Hill Cynthia and David Hughey Eric Jacks Amy Lafontant, Bottle Shop Bruce Lyons Lisa and Rich Peters David and Lisa Peterson Donations of $5000 plus Kristen and Ryan Bowie William H. Bowie Foundation Kim and Matt Peters Sarah Schmidt OG Grants in Action In our Spring Grant Cycle, we awarded CPS art teacher, Maura Walsh, with various art supplies including 50 boxes of neon oil pastels. In her application, she explained how new art supplies can impact her students’ work. “Oil pastels are really a game changer for all the art lessons. The students really notice a difference in their drawings when they see how well the colors blend the together. It gives them a richer color experience and they BLEND so fabulously. Whereas crayons are fine for elementary, the oil pastels take everything up a notch. And if I can introduce the students to something better, I'm all over it. I've bought many classroom packs of oil pastels, however I haven't tried these new neon ones that I picked out and I know they will be so excited to use them, as will I.” Copyright © 2021 Opportunity GrantED, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.