TED FUND FACT SHEET
TED MULLER AFTER-SCHOOL & SUMMER PROGRAM FUND
Leveling the playing field for all our hometown kids
FACTS: While Evanston public school children sit side-by-side in classrooms during the school year, they spend after-school hours and summers in very different worlds. Children of the economically advantaged are enrolled in organized recreation, music lessons, sports camps, arts classes, theater, and other programs of enrichment. Their free hours are brimming with activities that are stimulating, inspiring, and fun. In these informal settings they learn cooperation, self-expression, and other life-skills, experiencing informal mentoring and meaningful association with coaches and other adults. In contrast, children of families living below the poverty line are left behind. There are virtually no free public recreation or day camp programs in the community. Until recently, even access to town beaches was fee-based.
Locked out of such significant activities, many young people feel excluded. It is easy to imagine how negative feelings and the lure of the street can take hold, impacting academic interest, performance, and potential.
MISSION: The TED FUND addresses this troubling, ever-widening gap in Evanston between the haves and the have-nots. The Fund enables public school children from families with limited financial resources (approximately 30 percent of local children!) to participate in the kinds of quality programming most Evanston kids take for granted. Specifically, the Ted Fund provides the opportunity and means for each child to choose a summer day camp from among the same programs available to their more affluent classmates. In addition, the Fund provides after-school support and enrichment through our weekly mentoring program. We believe children have a right to essential experiences that help develop critical life-skills and foster a strong sense of personal worth. Without these skills, a child's destiny may be profoundly limited.
LINK TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: In partnership with District 65, scholarships are awarded annually to students in the third grade on the basis of need. To provide maximum benefit, each scholarship continues for three consecutive years. This year one hundred children, representing all Evanston public elementary schools, were enrolled in the program.
TEAMING UP: The McGaw YMCA has been instrumental in providing space for our Ted Fund Tuesdays program, This professionally-staffed program provides educational enrichment throughout the school year with homework support, group activities, and games. The YMCA has also generously awarded scholarships to Camp Echo in Michigan to many of our Ted Fund graduates at the junior high grade level. In addition, the Evanston YWCA is providing free swim lessons through their Learn to Swim program.
STRENGTHENING THE COMMUNITY: The need for additional scholarships is urgent. Our goal is to ensure that every Evanston public school child will experience quality programming and mentoring throughout the year. Investment in the development of our hometown children yields dividends for years to come and has strong, positive impact on the well-being of the entire Evanston community.
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS: The Ted Fund is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, run entirely by volunteers, in donated office space. There is no paid director or staff; every dollar benefits children. To enroll a single child in this vital three year term of after-school programming and summer day camp carries individual expenses of $2,400 ($800 per year). This year we need to add more children who are waiting. Could you please help us keep the momentum going?
HOW I CAN HELP:
