School Districts to receive three times the amount of donation through Brazos Valley Gives

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Donors will have an opportunity to help raise additional funds for eight Brazos Valley school districts along with their education foundations through Brazos Valley Gives.

Early giving has already started, but the big day of giving is on Tuesday. When someone donates to a local school district or their education foundation, their gifts will be tripled. It’s all thanks to a $40,000 grant provided by the Greater Texas Foundation which has partnered with the Community Foundation. This is the Greater Texas Foundation’s 4th year providing the grant which has helped local districts raise nearly $100,000 over the past three years.

Brazos Valley Gives Co-Chair Molly Watson said if a school district receives $2,500, the Greater Texas Foundation provides up to $5,000 dollars in matching funds.

“A lot of people don’t think about our school districts and having foundations that really help to, things that are out of budget, out of the school. It helps teachers it helps students and they’re nonprofits and a lot of people don’t think of school districts as nonprofits,” Watson said.

For the Greater Texas Foundation, the grant is a chance to give back to the community and encourage others to give back to the schools.

“Education is the one piece, one thing students can take away with them that’s important for the rest of their lives,” Andrea Robledo, Greater Texas Foundation Programs and Strategy Officer said. “The more that we can provide the funding that the teachers need, the funding that the schools need in order to make that education even better, then we can have a bigger impact not just today but in the future as well.”

The participating schools, Brenham ISD, Bryan ISD, Burton ISD, Caldwell ISD, College Station ISD, Navasota ISD, Somerville ISD and Centerville ISD, can use the funds for classroom grants for tools, technology enhancements along with whatever else they need.

College Station ISD’s education foundation said the donations will help them fund and provide more educational programs that might not be in the school’s budget.

“The foundation supports teaching grants which allows creative classroom projects. We also help fund student scholarships for seniors that are graduating and going out to pursue college degrees and vocational trades. We also support Chrissy’s Closet which provides essentials for students and their families, we also do teacher and staff awards,” Ericka Mitchell, College Sation ISD Education Foundation donor development said.

Mitchell said every donor who donates $25 to College Station ISD is entered into a drawing for a chance to win $2,500 for a CSISD campus of their choice.

At the end of the day, Watson said it’s all about helping the teachers and students and she has seen firsthand how much these funds have helped.

“All those seven counties and we’re really excited about the participation of the school districts and we’re grateful to the Greater Texas Foundation this year,” Watson said.

More than $300,000 has been raised through early giving so far as Brazos Valley Gives works towards this year’s goal of $1.25 million dollars.