Santa Rosa school board member updates Milton council on 'Duo' program helping students with urgent needs

Linda Sanborn, an invited guest and school board member, updated the Milton City Council on Duo (Do Unto Others), a nonprofit she founded that provides immediate aid to students with urgent needs.

Sanborn said the program raised about $39,500 in its first summer (her initial goal was $38,000) to give principals prepaid debit cards of $1,000 each to address emergent student needs. “So that first school year after I started, I distributed $38,000 in money to the principals to use with the students,” Sanborn said, and described multiple success stories, including paying for glasses and replacing falling-apart shoes so students could attend class.

Sanborn said Duo has since raised more than $100,000 through donations, grants and fundraisers and is organized with a board of directors and 501(c)(3) status. She told the council that principals are required to submit receipts and a ledger at the end of the school year to provide checks and balances on spending. The program also complements summer meal and backpack food programs.

Councilmembers thanked Sanborn and praised the program’s impact in Milton and Santa Rosa County schools; one councilmember noted the program gives “hope” to children and commended Sanborn for taking the initiative.

Sanborn asked whether councilmembers had questions and emphasized that Duo is a private nonprofit rather than a school-board project while noting her role as a school board member. She closed by thanking the council for initiating support when the program began three years ago.

The council had no formal action tied to the presentation; they moved on to other agenda items.