ELORA – Working to continue to support student success, the Upper Grand Learning Foundation (UGLF) is hosting a fundraising gala that organizers hope will be the first of many.
The event, sponsored by Linamar, will be held May 27 at 6:30pm at The Grandway Events Centre in Elora.
The theme for the UGLF’s inaugural gala is the Three R’s: Retro Rock ‘n Roll.
Centre Wellington trustee and Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) vice-chair Barbara Lustgarten Evoy said the foundation wanted to host a fun event and still honour what the foundation stands for.
“We’re enthusiastic and excited and hopeful,” she told the Advertiser. “And we hope to set a precedent that will continue forever through the foundation.”
For over 25 years, the UGLF has supported public education and school communities across the UGDSB, funding everything from school supplies, feeding chairs, hearing aids and musical instruments, to athletes and artists hoping to perfect their skills.
As a separate non-profit, registered charitable organization, funding for these supplies is not provided for through provincial budgets, Lustgarten Evoy explained.
“The board for the Upper Grand Learning Foundation takes equity extremely seriously and wants to make sure that regardless of reason, that every single child in the system has access to everything that they might need,” she said.
“Whatever it is that is needed, we want to make sure that we are there for them so that the struggle can end. As soon as they say we need help, we want to be able to supply that service and that support whenever and wherever it’s needed.”
A May 4 press release from the foundation notes that during the pandemic, needs in local communities have risen sharply
With UGLF working to ensure that “100 per cent of UGDSB students have access to a deep and varied educational experience, regardless of personal need or circumstance,” the foundation is also working hard to raise funds to do so.
Equity, Lustgarten Evoy stressed, is one of the pillars of the UGDSB identity and how the board chooses to move forward.
“We need for our families not to have to struggle if there’s something we can help them with,” she explained. “We want to be there to help them; we want them to be able to get whatever it is they need.
“When we say equity we mean every child, full stop. Whatever the needs are, we want to make sure they’re met.”
The best way to make that happen is reaching into the community to work together, she emphasized.
While the foundation has been around for a long time, Lustgarten Evoy said this is the first event they’ve ever done.
“I think it was sparked, or the motivation came as a result of noticing the rising need in our communities across our school board district,” she explained.
“I think going in we’re excited and we’re hopeful and we’re looking forward to making the first one the blueprint of how to do this moving forward.”
General tickets are $125 and include dinner and drinks, live band and dance, and a silent/live auction.
All proceeds from the event will go directly towards the funding of items and activities of students in the UGDSB that cannot otherwise be funded by families or schools, the foundation notes.
For more information visit www.uppergrandlearningfoundation.com.
