The Carlmont Academic Foundation (CAF) is getting closer to its fundraising goal.
After the online donation day on May 10, the CAF is approximately $100,000 away from its goal of $550,000 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The inspiration for this day came from recent success in online giving days with Silicon Valley Gives, an online event organized by the Silicon Vally Foundation for Santa Clara and San Mateo county non-profit groups. In 2016, $80,745 was raised for the CAF.
The President of the CAF April Carlson said, “Since CAF has had great success with SVGives, we wanted to hold another online day of giving in 2017.”
This year CAF funding will go to decreasing class sizes, college and career programs such as after-school tutoring, enrichment programs including elective classes and extracurricular actives, and STEM classes.
The CAF has multiple corporate donors that give some of the largest amounts. A list of all donors can be found on CAF’s website.
“Our largest and most consistent corporate donation is from Oracle. We receive $20,000 for Oracle. This year it supports the biotech and chemistry departments,” said Carlson.
The results of CAF’s work can be seen in recent developments around Carlmont’s campus including equipment for the science buildings and recent addition to campus.
The CAF has held many fundraising events in the past year such as the third annual Bagpiper Bash at Waterdog Tavern located in the Carlmont Shopping Center. Such events are run by volunteers, usually parents of Carlmont students.
“[Parents] can also volunteer for CAF. We have a variety of positions opened from big to small,” said Carlson.
Volunteering for CAF is not limited to parents as students can join CAF’s Student Board which meets once a month at lunch.
“The biggest job [the Student Board does] for us right now is participate in our Thank-a-Thons where students call donors and just thank them for their donation. The donors love talking with high school students and welcome the call,” said Carlson.
CAF’s goals for the next school year are not yet set. With the fiscal year winding down, the next big event is Giving Tuesday, another online donation day the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
More information on how to volunteer or CAF’s goals can be found at their website.
