The Dearborn Education Foundation briefed the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education on the foundation’s grants, fundraising and donations, and highlighted multiple gifts and two large grants earmarked for school improvement projects.

Chastity Townsend, executive director of the Dearborn Education Foundation, told trustees the foundation has funded 41 grants since September totaling $26,146.27 and reported $1,950.80 raised through crowdfunding efforts. She said restricted grants awarded since September total $130,000. Townsend named corporate supporters including Cleveland-Cliffs, Ford Motor Company and PNC; she said PNC will contribute $50,000 annually for three years toward Green Schoolyards projects.

Townsend listed donations and grants reported to the board: a $50,000 gift to Celina Elementary School from the Dearborn Education Foundation in partnership with PNC for the Green Schoolyards initiative; a $60,000 grant to Celina Elementary from a community foundation for Southeastern Michigan; and a $500,000 grant to Salina Elementary offered by “the office of the environmental justice public advocate in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy” to fund a Celina Green Schoolyards recreational nature area, playscape, drainage and landscaping.

Other donations noted on the record included funds for classroom materials, special education field day support, lined whiteboards, headphones, Chromebooks and athletic equipment. Townsend said the foundation typically funds registration and tickets for field trips but does not pay for busing, overnight stays, meals or parents’ tickets; the foundation coordinates grant priorities with district administration and the curriculum office.

Townsend also described the foundation’s scholarship programs and annual fundraising events — golf outing, Mardi Gras and a green-tie dinner — and said scholarship applications open now with a March 30 deadline. She invited the board to expect two foundation presentations each year: a planning briefing at the start of the school year and an end-of-year report on accomplishments.

Board members thanked Townsend and asked the foundation to present regularly; Trustee Hussain Berry and others noted how foundation grants have supported classroom and district projects. Townsend said the foundation currently operates with one staff member and two interns this semester.