Since its inception in 1987, the Petal Education Foundation has gifted $447,000 in scholarship awards – along with $69,900 awarded in teacher mini-grants since 2005 – with the help of officials, residents and volunteers throughout Petal.
But what foundation officials seek most is donations for an area that some people may not think about: operations.
“Everybody normally has a certain cause that they want to support, like scholarships,” said Leahne Lightsey, executive director of the foundation. “Those are all restricted funds, but we’re seeking donations to run the office of the foundation.”
Donations can be mailed to The Petal Education Foundation, P.O. Box 948, Petal, MS, 39475, or dropped off at the Petal School District Central Office at 115 East Central Ave. in Petal. Donations also can be made online at squareup.com/petal-ed-foundation.
“(Donations) are important,” Lightsey said. “If we don’t have someone to seek the funding of scholarships, or mini-grants, or the different areas that we support in our goals, then the office can’t run.
“We pride ourselves on being very good stewards of our money. Particularly when people donate to those certain areas, every cent goes to a scholarship, or Excel By 5, (or their area of choice) if it’s a restricted fund. So we have to get out and try to raise money to run the office.”
During a recent meeting of the Petal School District Board of Directors, Lightsey said since the foundation’s Ambassador Program was established in 2014, members in that program have amassed more than 6,500 community service hours while performing activities throughout the city. Over the course of the past year, 115 volunteers helped the Petal Education Foundation raise private funds to enhance education in the Petal School District.
In addition, the foundation welcomed Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book-gifting program that mails free books to children. In the first two months of the initiative, 18 children received a book free of charge – a number that jumped up to 753 last month alone.
The foundation also serves as the physical agent for the Excel By 5 initiative, which focuses on young families with babies and pre-school children, and has coordinated the South Mississippi Children’s Concerts for the past 11 years. The concert has played host to more than 19,000 children and raised more than $84,000 for Excel By 5 through ticket sales and sponsors.
“I think it is safe to say that a lot comes out of the foundation’s ‘Big Red Bag,’ Lightsey told board members. “There’s always work to be done, scholarships to be established and endowed, funders to be found for mini-grants and initiatives to be created.
“It’s with this in mind that I ask (the board’s) help to continue to pull the sleigh. Santa has only eight tiny reindeer, but the Petal School District is proud to have the entire community championing our students.”
