Fern's Kids - September 2014

Fern’s Kids:  September 2014 – Back to School

Since our last update in April we have continued to make progress. We were able to finalize our relationship with Long Island Community fund, and get the Fern’s Kids fund up and running. We also launched our webpage, www.FernsKids.com.  Here visitors are able to learn more about the purpose of the fund, read about the different projects we are undertaking and donate directly to the fund through LICF and JustGive.org.

With your help and generosity, we have continued to raise funds and have collected more than $17,000 to date. Your willingness to support our cause has put us in the position to begin honoring Fern and supporting local teachers and students. For this, we are incredibly grateful. Thank you to all who made such generous contributions or helped to spread the word about Fern’s Kids.

To honor Fern’s birthday (September 4th) and the beginning of the school year, we have been active this month partnering with Donor’s Choose in order to provide help three different classrooms. As part of our desire to help out teachers and students with their back to school experiences, we purchased over $500 in school supplies for a classroom at Martin Luther King School in Wyandanch. Ms. Carrol and her students were extremely excited to receive the pencils, markers, crayons, folders and other organizational supplies for the classroom

We were also able to donate to classrooms at a school in Hempstead and PS 11 in Manhattan. In both classrooms we were able to donate books for children to read in the classroom. Books such as classics by Roald Dahl were purchased, which was special to us, as these were books that Fern truly loved. We hope that these gifts make this school year special for 4th and 5th graders in these classrooms.

These donations are a small example of what we would like to accomplish. We look forward to our continued quest to support teachers and students in classrooms throughout the area. We are currently discussing several projects with several schools on Long Island and plan on hosting a fundraising event early in 2015. In order to continue to help local teachers and students we will have to continue to raise funds. Of course, we can’t do this alone. Any help (in the form of donations or by helping to raise awareness) is greatly appreciated.

Please email us with any questions, ideas or inquiries

Thank you again for all of your help and support.

Michael Doniger

FernsKidsFund@gmail.com

Fern's Kids - April 2014

Friends & Colleagues,

When we first launched Fern’s Kids in mid February, our goal was clear: to honor our mother and the memory of our past by nurturing the future. A number of things however, were far less certain. We were unsure of how to navigate the formal establishment process, when we could begin actively supporting local students and teachers, or how much support to expect.

Given our uncertain beginnings, to suggest that the past two months have been encouraging would be an understatement. In just 60 days Fern’s Kids has raised $14,000 from over 200 donors. This incredible support speaks to the love our community felt about Fern, our family, and the desire to continue her legacy. Your willingness to support our cause has helped us begin to achieve our goals in far less time than we imagined. For this, we are incredibly grateful. Thank you to everyone who made such generous contributions or helped to spread the word about Fern’s Kids.

As inspiring as it has been to watch the donations roll in, putting those donations to good use is what Fern’s Kids is really about. We are proud to announce that this process is now underway. Your generosity has helped to provide Mrs. Cheryl Sonnenberg, a first grade teacher at P.S. 174 in Queens, NY, with a new dry erase board for her classroom. It is our sincerest hope that this contribution can help Mrs. Sonnenberg better meet the needs of her students and brighten the learning environment for the children in her class. Mrs. Sonnenberg relayed how excited this gift made her students.

Additionally we are proud to announce that starting at the end of April Fern’s Kids will be officially formed as 501(c) 3 fund. By partnering with the Long Island Community Foundation (LICF), Fern’s Kids will be recognized as a fund for public charitable and educational uses, allowing any future donations made directly to the fund to be tax deductable. The staff at LICF will help us to administer any projects we undertake and will assist in the day to day operations of the fund. This development will go a long way in facilitating the future growth and sustainability of Fern’s Kids.

Finally, know that this is only the beginning. We look forward to continuing to support teachers like Mrs. Sonnenberg and students in classrooms throughout the New York area. Of course, we can’t do this alone. Any help you can provide going forward (in the form of donations or by helping to raise awareness) will be greatly appreciated.