Foundation spotlights nonprofits

Foundation President Paul Lessard said the annual grants program, which serves its mission of meeting unmet needs in the High Point area, holds a sacred significance. The foundation and its donors have granted more than $100 million since 1998 to nonprofits that are motivated to make the community a better place for all.

“When you consider we currently are now managing over $100 million and we’ve also raised over $14 million for Say Yes Guilford, you can begin to realize how amazingly generous this community is and how much power for good our donors generate,” Lessard said.

The foundation paid more than $21,000 to support the Teacher Supply Warehouse, according to High Point University professor Joe Blosser, who spoke for the Guilford Education Alliance and the High Point Schools Partnership.

Guilford County Schools serves 80% of the children living in the county, Blosser said. Sixty-seven percent of those students are from low-income families and need extra community support. Guilford is one of the 50 largest school districts in the nation and the third-largest in the state, Blosser said. The foundation’s assistance with technology and classroom supply needs has resulted in student success. In 2021, the school system achieved a 91.5% high school graduation rate, Blosser said.

“Guilford County Schools had the least learning loss during the pandemic among large North Carolina districts and compared to the state average,” Blosser said.

When students with intellectual or developmental disabilities graduate high school, they need extra support to find fully inclusive work in the community, said Stephanie Antkowiak, executive director of The Arc of High Point. Through vocational training, independent living development and job sampling programs, the Arc has helped students “to learn to be valuable employees.”

Parker White, founder and volunteer executive director of BackPack Beginnings, talked about how the organization grew from her own dining room to now provide food, clothes and comfort to more than 17,000 children in need. The nonprofit operates countywide through more than 200 monthly volunteers, she said. A family market is planned to open next month to make new and gently used clothes, shoes, books, toys and baby equipment donations available first to other partner agencies and to the public.

Antoine Dalton, social services director of The Salvation Army of High Point, described how its youth development program gives students a safe structured environment and opportunities to assist others while their parents are at work.

Ron Rice, branch manager of the Boys and Girls Club at the Salvation Army, detailed the disproportionate challenges students faced during the pandemic and how its remote learning site made a difference to connect them to schools and recreational activities. Programs the Foundation supported to address learning loss, mental health and physical well-being began to show signs of healing in 2021, Rice said.

GO FAR, or Go Out For A Run, is a fitness program created in 2003 by physician assistant Robin Lindsay to fight childhood obesity while teaching children healthy habits that can be sustained throughout their lives. The nonprofit works with teachers, coaches and/or parents to create running clubs in their schools and communities. A video showed thousands of children running a 5K while hundreds of parents and volunteers cheered their accomplishment.

Fairview Elementary School teacher Pam Greene said she has seen that sense of confidence carry over into the classroom as students set goals, practice and achieve. One child shown in the video said one of his favorite parts was seeing how proud his family was when he crossed the finish line.

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