Monument Avenue group raises $107,000 for Carver Elementary
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 1/24/2020, 6 a.m.
A new microphone system for the auditorium.
Whiteboards and projectors in every classroom.
Kidney-shaped desks in each room to allow teachers to work with small groups of children needing extra attention.
Those are the kinds of items that soon will be coming to Carver Elementary School, thanks to a successful fundraiser that a nonprofit group conducted on behalf of the school.
The Embrace Carver Elementary Foun- dation joined with the Monument Avenue Preservation Society, or MAPS, on Jan. 16 for the first of what they hope will be an annual fundraising challenge to benefit the school.
The amount raised in two hours:
$107,395, said Deborah Corliss, president of the foundation that was created about 14 months ago.
“I was expecting to raise about $15,000,” Ms. Corliss said, “and I was blown away by the results. The best part is that people in the West End worked with us to raise money to improve the education of children from Gilpin Court.”
She praised Bill and Ceci Gallasch, Rob and Jean Estes, Edward Barlow and Janet Brown for opening their homes for the event. She said members of MAPS and others from the city and county attended.
She said the event produced more than double the $50,000 collected by the foun- dation in 2019, its first full year.
“As a result, we’re going to be able to fill some of the unmet needs at the school,” Ms. Corliss said. “This is just the beginning as we intend to push for more for this school.”
