Richmond Shows Up: How Donors Helped Students Through a School Closure
When mold forced Barack Obama Elementary School in Richmond's Northside to close for about 10 days at the start of the school year, the Richmond Ed Fund quickly launched a $75,000 emergency appeal. Community Foundation donors responded and gave $166,500, more than twice the goal.
While crews cleaned and retested the building, staff had to throw out classroom materials the mold had ruined. Bellevue Elementary also closed for a week of deep cleaning.
For Taikein Cooper, President and CEO of Richmond Ed Fund, the closure was more than a scheduling problem. "There was an educational cost. There was a social cost. There was an economic cost," he said. "And so, we tried to lighten the burden as much as possible."
The Richmond Ed Fund, the dedicated public education foundation for Richmond Public Schools, activated its Crisis Response Fund to stream immediate financial relief directly into affected schools. We shared the need with many of our donors, and they answered with $166,500. Funds were also raised by corporate partners, the school's PTA and the Ed Fund's own community of supporters.
The funds raised did not pay for mold remediation. Instead, they covered what the closure cost students, teachers and families. It paid for Educare at a nearby community center, so students stayed engaged and parents could keep working, and it provided meals for displaced students. It replaced classroom materials, from rugs and books to nearly everything in Obama's art room, and it is now replacing musical instruments compromised by mold. At Bellevue Elementary, the funds supported students at a temporary site and replaced lost items.
Some needs surfaced weeks later, as well. "Sometimes people forget things they lose until it's time to use it," Cooper said. When a teacher reached for books that had been thrown out, flexible dollars meant the Ed Fund could say yes.
The Ed Fund's board is weighing how best to use the Crisis Response Fund in the future, while staff work with RPS on preventive maintenance to keep crises like this from happening. "Intervention is always more expensive than prevention," Cooper said.
Our donors' fast, generous response helped Richmond families through a challenging start to the school year, and the Crisis Response Fund stays ready for whatever comes next. As the Ed Fund puts it: "Emergencies may be unpredictable. Our response doesn't have to be."
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