The Michigan Education Foundation (MEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization built by and for people passionate about quality public K-12 education in Michigan. Its mission is to be a catalyst for the creation and growth of local education foundations in communities across the state.
MEF hosts five meetings a year. Each session focuses on a topic relevant to education foundations and includes time for idea sharing and Q&A among attendees.
CEF representatives Lynn Fox (president) and Sharon Hillis, (co-treasurer) co-presented with EFD representatives Heidi Patel (president) and Mike Cipolla (vice president).
Together, they provided details of the joint “Rivalry Match” fundraiser, which raised money for teacher grants and student scholarship programs in both communities.
The friendly “Rivalry Match” culminated at the Aug. 30 opening season football game in Dexter.
“This was an idea that former EFD President Lori Moss and I talked about over a year ago,” said Lynn Fox in a press release. “We spoke with our respective boards, who all agreed that this event could be fun and benefit both Dexter and Chelsea teachers and students. ”
“Our missions and objectives are similar, so it made sense to work together, informing people in both communities how we support teachers with additional funding for special classroom projects,” said Heidi Patel.
The rivalry raised more than $10,000 before and during the football game. The Dexter foundation has bragging rights for raising the most money by half time at the game, but Chelsea hopes to surpass that number at next year’s game.
