An update from Carmin Dalziel, executive director of the Northshore Schools Foundation
Northshore has really been a life-saver for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!
I’m writing today with a short update about your Northshore Schools Foundation. The past weeks have been strange, challenging, and deeply unfamiliar. The impact of the pandemic struck so rapidly across our community.
When the COVID-19 crisis began, we pivoted from our “normal” ways of supporting kids and teachers to respond in new, critical ways so students and their families could stay healthy and keep learning safely at home.
In the past weeks:
- 510 families have been mailed grocery gift cards
- 190 students have received school supply deliveries
- 2,100 books have been delivered to students to read at home
- 80 plus weeks of subsidized child care have been provided to families
Because of the generous, immediate response from our community, both with donations and with volunteer assistance, families have been served rapidly. Often, requests were filled within days.
As funds allow, the Foundation will continue to serve in the short term, distributing grocery cards until June 15, school supplies until May 30, and books until the libraries open.
It requires donations of about $15,000 per week to meet the volume of requests just for grocery assistance. A few months ago, we couldn’t have dreamed we’d be doing this.
As summer approaches, we continue listening to our community and are assessing how best to support students, provide school supplies as we have done through our existing Backpacks for Kids program, and partner with the agencies in this community who specialize in meeting basic needs for the long-term.
These are uncertain times, but one thing is certain: we are all in this together. The Northshore Schools Foundation is in this for what’s urgent today, and for the long haul.
Your partner in supporting students,
Carmin Dalziel,
Northshore Schools Foundation
P.S. If you’ve ever considered donating, now is the time. Best Use donations are key to funding future classroom and district-wide grants. Those funds, along with operations support, usually would have been raised at our All In For Kids events. Those events, of course, had to be canceled because of the pandemic. You can donate here.
P.S.S. If you’re newly in need, please reach out for help. We recognize that things continue to change for all of us. Here is a quick reference link for some local resources. Please contact me at the
Foundation or email your school counselor for additional support.