BLANCHESTER — The Blanchester Local Schools Foundation board officers presented to Superintendent Dean Lynch a check for more than $28,000 to reimburse the Blanchester Local Schools for activities and expenditures in 2018.
All of these funds were received over the past several years by the Foundation, an IRS-approved 501 (c) (3) nonprofit foundation.
This money was distributed for scholarships, teacher and classroom supplies, lab equipment, field trips, athletics, and band equipment and uniforms.
Donors to the Blanchester Schools Foundation may designate their donation for specific uses or to the general fund.
All contributions are tax deductible. Donations made to the Foundation are kept in a separate fund and are never co-mingled with regular school funds.
Blanchester Local Schools Foundation Board recently held its annual reorganization meeting for the 2019 calendar year.
Gordon Rose, founder of the Foundation, gave a brief history concerning the foundation for the newly elected board members.
The Foundation was created in 2004 for the purpose of accepting and expending funds in support of curricular and extra-curricular activities, grounds, facilities and programs of Blanchester Local Schools. The Foundation provides a way for the public to remember their schools and/or favorite teacher in a very appropriate manner while receiving a tax deduction.
Board members include Tony Long, president; Ellen Binkley Hill, vice president; Kris Johnson Gundler, secretary; Andrea Kratzer Tacoronte, treasurer; John Panetta, school board member representative; Dean Lynch, superintendent; Joe Falgner, member; Gordon Rose, member; and Kyle Wilson, member.
Panetta and Lynch were approved by the Blanchester Board of Education at the November board meeting. Lynch, Panetta and Rose were elected to one-year terms. Falgner, Gundler and Wilson were elected to two-year terms. Hill, Tacoronte and Long were elected to three-year terms. All board members are serving without any compensation.
The board discussed several ways to increase marketing the Foundation and fundraising activities.
The Foundation will soon have a newly revised brochure, courtesy of Curless Printing. The Foundation has created a Facebook page and has accumulated more than 100 followers in less than three weeks.
The Foundation has an Amazon Smile account and a newly created Kroger Community Rewards account.
The Foundation Board thanks everyone who has enrolled in both the Amazon and Kroger rewards programs and encourages everyone to sign up for an account.
Here are the simple instructions for signing up:
• Amazon Smile — If you order items through Amazon please bookmark: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-1854938
• Kroger Community Rewards Program — To enroll go to www.kroger.com and log-in to your Kroger account; click on Savings and Rewards; scroll down/click on Kroger Community Rewards; click on “I’m a customer” and enter YQ558 (Blanchester School Foundation).
To make a donation:
• Make checks payable to Blanchester Schools Foundation and send to: Blanchester Schools Foundation, 951 Cherry St., Blanchester, OH 45107;
• Or donate on the Facebook page: Blanchester Schools Foundation
Anyone interested in more information regarding the Blanchester Local Schools Foundation should email [email protected].
