Good food, good friends and a great cause!
Last Friday evening, the Educational Foundation of Dexter hosted their 30th annual spring fundraising event, Spring Zing, at Zingerman’s Greyline event space. Over 140 parents, staff and community members attended the strolling dinner, enjoying delectable Zingerman’s fare accompanied by the smooth acoustic guitar of Nadim Azzam while browsing and bidding on a wide variety of silent auction items.
The event was emceed by Dexter Chamber of Commerce President, Chuck Colby, opening the event with Superintendent Dr. Chris Timmis who welcomed attendees by thanking them for their continuing support of Dexter Schools. Ed Foundation Board President, Lori Moss, also thanked those in attendance and offered her heartfelt appreciation for her fellow board members. “I’ve never worked with a more hardworking, more dedicated board in my life,” Moss stated. She went on to acknowledge the event’s corporate sponsors and the 100+ local businesses and individuals who generously donated the 63 auction items.
In addition to the silent auction, the Ed Foundation also held a live auction at the end of the evening, offering for bid items including a $2,500 orthodontics package from Dexter Orthodontics, a massage package valued at $840 from Body Wisdom and a DHS Varsity Football Game VIP Package from Dexter Athletics among others. This year’s event also included a first for the Ed Foundation, thanks to the efforts of event chair, Mike Cipolla – online bidding for those who were unable to attend the actual event. The online portion of the auction brought in just shy of $2,400.
Including a portion of each Spring Zing ticket sold, the amount raised at Friday’s event totaled more than $40,000 that will go directly to Dexter Community Schools to fund “new and innovative programs in all DCS buildings.”
Moss shared with guests that a record number of teacher grant applications were submitted this academic year, and the Foundation funded over $22,000 in Fall 2018. Spring 2019 grants will soon be awarded.
The Ed Foundation was organized in 1984 to support educational enrichment for students enrolled in the Dexter Community School District. Their goal is to fund those projects that cannot otherwise be funded by the school district. The grants funded by the Ed Foundation have benefited every student in every school – $870,000 has been distributed in teacher grants since its inception.
Kudos to the Ed Foundation for a fantastic event and their many years of dedicated support of Dexter Community Schools!
