Help Beach Elementary School’s children

The Ferndale School District is strapped financially and our wonderful Beach Elementary School is facing up to a $151,000 budget reduction this year. Without that money, we lose key personnel, from teachers to aides and support staff for this coming year. And our island kids will suffer educationally.  The Beach School is, absolutely, one of Lummi Island’s central and essential community resources.

This is really crummy.

Fortunately, the heroic Beach School PTO is leading efforts to both negotiate a reduction in that loss and to raise funds from islanders to make up what we can of the shortfall. (Please visit the new Fund Beach School website for more information.)

DONATIONS NEEDED: Goal $151,000 by June 15, 2009

Yes, that’s a lot of money, but the island has raised a more in time frames not much longer than this.  So I say: Yes We Can.  But we need a lot more than bake sales to pull this off.

Lummi Island probably has about 1000 full-time residents (including kids; probably ~500 families) land at least that many part-time residents. Plus visitors, who often bring considerable $$ with them.

If on average (I know not every family can do this), each full-time family donated $300 we’d meet the $150,000 goal.  If all island residents kicked in, that would be about $150 per household.

Bill and I don’t have children and our so-called “investments” have tanked with everyone else’s.  But we received excellent educations as children, courtesy of very generous, consistent support from our parents and grandparents generation. So we’ll support this Beach School initiative to the best of our ability.

Obviously this isn’t ’sustainable’ — other solutions are needed for the long haul.    That is then; this is now.

Please send (tax deductible) donations ASAP to LICA (Lummi Island Community Association), with “Beach School Fund” on the memo line. For more details, visit the Fund Beach School website.