It’s time to start coming up with solutions.
Last fall while at a local school function, I was having a discussion with three other fathers on the state of the elementary school our children attend. Two classroom projectors available to share between 15 classes. A reduced number of field trips outside the schools and special projects in the classrooms. Every year it seems something else gets cut; every year the list of materials our children are required to bring on the first day of school gets longer and longer.
On election night a couple of weeks later, I was watching then president-elect Obama’s victory speech from Grant Park in Chicago. Addressing our nation’s economic situation, he said,
That call to arms resonated with me and just after the first of the year I went back to those three friends and the Support the Underfunded Resources Foundation (S.U.R.F.) was created.
S.U.R.F. is a non-profit Foundation based here in Idaho Falls and its goals are simple. First, through annual fund raising events, corporate donations, government grants, and other activities, we are raising financial resources that will be available to students, families and teachers in Idaho Falls to help underwrite economic and extracurricular activities and programs for children in grades K-12. The second goal is to, through these annual fund raising events, make it possible for local businesses to participate and support these efforts while increasing their business by doing so.
Our first event of this summer is the Snake River Shoot-Out 3-ON-3 Basketball Tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, July 24 & 25, outdoors on the campus of Skyline High School.
The double-elimination Tournament, presented by Zions Bank and Wal-Mart and supported by dozens of other local businesses, will feature more than 40 player brackets for boy and girls, men and women of all skill levels, from ages 7 to 70 and in addition to the exciting games, the two-day event will include a Children’s Action Area, the “Fastbreak Food Court” featuring edibles from some of Idaho Falls’ finest eateries, dozens of craft and vendor booths from local businesses, music and lots of other surprises!
In addition, leading up to and during the event, tickets will be sold for the Shoot-Out Super Raffle, featuring two main prizes: round trip air faire and accommodations for three days and two nights in Las Vegas and a romantic night on the town (including a room at the Destinations Inn, dinner for two at the White Water Grill, entertainment and chauffeured limousine service.
Following the event, grant funding will be available for students, teachers and families who are in need of assistance for funds relating to education and extracurricular programs and activities.
In addition, we still have several positions at the Tournament (court monitors, raffle ticket sales, supervising the children’s area, parking, clean-up, etc.) for which schools, teams, classes, clubs, squads, or other groups interested can raise hundreds, even thousands of dollars for their education or extracurricular need.
Registration forms can be obtained online at the Tournament website at: www.snakerivershootout.com or at Apple Athletic Club, All American Sports, Zions Bank, the Sporting Goods counter at the Idaho Falls Wal-Mart, or at any Idaho Falls Subway Sandwich restaurant.
If you have any questions regarding the Tournament or the Foundation ( www.ifsurf.org ) contact Foundation Executive Director Dennis Jones in Idaho Falls at 208.206.2044
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I read this and sorry, but I can’t help but wonder how much of funds raised will go to academic needs of children, and how much earned really will go to extracurricular fees (ie sports), something I think needs to take a back seat to academic spending during this crises.
How do you define “educational or extracurricular needs” and who determines how much goes where?
I think readers question is why most people don’t want to give more government funds to our educational system as it currently stands. Too much ends up in places other than the classroom.
Excellent question!
ALL funding grants will be determined by the S.U.R.F. Board of Directors and the VAST majority of the funds raised will be directed towards teachers to help fund classroom projects and equiipment, and to students who need assistance paying for educational opportunities (such as fees for AP classes) and extracurricular acivities (such as an instrument if they would like to participate in the band but can not afford to do so).
The only funding that would go to athletics would be for a student who requies financial assistance for participation fees or equipment for a sport. The only opportunity a department or team would be eligible for funds would be if they, as a team, volunteered to undertake one of the work stations at the event, for which they would earn a reasonable set amount. For instance, the Skyline Corss Country / Track teams will man the Pepsi Booth at the Tournament, for which the group will earn a $500 donation to help pay for team uniforms. Old Faithful pepsi Distributor is donating all of the product for the drink booth, so this donatin will come solely from profits made from the booth at the Tournament.
In addition, educational grants will always be considered before those for extracurricular activities and ALL grant applicants will be required to donate volunteer time to an approved local project to revieve a grant. We’re not “giving” away anything here…the S.U.R.F. Foundatin is merely providing local students, teachers, classrooms, families, clubs, and teams the opportunity to make their own way.
For more information on the grant funding process, PLEASE sto pby the wensite and get a more detailed description. Or, if you prefer, give me a call at 206.2044. I’d love to talk with you.
Sincerely,
Dennis Jones
Executive Director
Support the Underfunded Resources Foundation
Idaho Falls
http://www.ifsurf.org
P.S. My appologies for the many typos. My generation missed the multi-tasking craze by a decade or so!
dj
This is a great idea. They should have more things like this for our kids. Good, safe activities that also do some good for the schools. Bravo to the people putting this together.
Dennis, thanks for the reply. We like to donate and help out where we can, and a clearer explanation of where the money actually goes is very useful. Hope it turns out well!
I am so glad I came across this thread (I almost missed it). After I showed it to my two sons and daughter, they have done nothing but call their friends to get everyone to play. Why isn’t there more of this kind of activity for our kids that they can get excited about and doesn’t involved video games or bad behavior? That it is a fundraiser we can afford that will help our children and their teachers in school this year makes it that much better.
Great idea to help with public education, but the federal governemnt needs to put the education back in the hands of parents,teachers, local school boards and keep more education funds in the classroom and let teachers teach! To much teaching time is taken up with with the teacher enforceing federal mandates, such as No Child Left Behind, et, etc, etc..
The Foundation agrees 1,000%! But until they do, we’re going to do the best we can to help out.