(Pompano Beach, Fla.) – For the second year, Broward Education Foundation and Deerfield Beach-based JM Family Enterprises teamed up to distribute nearly $30,000 in free school supplies to more than 300 teachers from six Deerfield Beach elementary and middle public schools. The teachers received bags stuffed with classroom essentials, including a jump drive and a ream of paper. Volunteers from JM were on hand to distribute the items.
“We are honored to partner with Broward Education Foundation and provide teachers with the resources necessary to help children achieve academic success,” said Colin Brown, president and CEO of JM Family.
“Giving students the tools they need empowers them to prepare for the future. JM Family is committed to helping improve the lives of the people in our community through meaningful initiatives like Tools for Schools.”
Tools for Schools Broward, which is operated by the Broward Education Foundation, distributed more than $500,000 in school supplies during the 2013-14 school year to teachers who work in Broward County Title I schools that qualify for financial support from the Federal government. Teachers in these schools often spend $1,000 or more of their own money to purchase school supplies for their students.
Thomas Severino, president and CEO of the Broward Education Foundation (BEF), says annual support from companies like JM Family enables the Annual Tools for Schools Broward School Supply Drive to gather the basic tools Broward students need to succeed in school.
“The teachers who shop at the Tools for Schools Broward center serve students whose family incomes qualify them for free or reduced-cost lunches,” he said. “We salute JM Family and the many other companies, organizations and individuals who support our annual drive and help us achieve our goal is to eliminate the need for teachers to dip into their own pockets.”
Additional lead supporters of the back to school campaign include Wells Fargo, Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce, PRIDE Center, State Farm, and Brightstar Credit Union.
The schools participating in the event were: Deerfield Beach Middle, Deerfield Beach Elementary, Deerfield Park Elementary, Park Ridge Elementary, Quiet Waters Elementary, and Tedder Elementary.
About the Broward Education Foundation:
Tools for Schools Broward is a 8,000-square-foot center, which provides teachers in low income schools the chance to shop for free supplies they need year round. Since it was formed in January 2001, the facility has provided more than $4 million in new school supplies to teachers in Title I schools.
Established in 1983, the non-profit Broward Education Foundation (BEF) seeks private contributions to supplement the public funding schools receive. The Foundation also raises support from the private sector and charitable foundations to provide post-secondary scholarships to college or trade-bound high school graduates who have exhausted all other sources of support and grants to support innovative curriculum in the classroom.
For more information, call 754-321-2030, visit www.browardedfoundation.org, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
