$500,000 Donation To Decatur Education Foundation

The Decatur Education Foundation announced Thursday night it has received a $500,000 gift--its largest single gift to date.

The gift came from a Decatur family that wishes to remain anonymous.

The announcement was made at the Decatur Community Bandstand .

Here's information from the foundation.

A Decatur family has bestowed the Decatur Education Foundation with its single largest gift to date, a $500,000 donation that will provide a wide range of educational support to the city’s students. 

The gift was announced this evening on the city square at the kick-off of the “Terrific Thursday” holiday shopping season. 

“This gift will allow us to continue to build on the work accomplished over the past 10 years to ensure that every child in Decatur has opportunities to thrive,” says Paula Collins, chair of DEF’s board. “Coupled with the continued support from our community, it will allow us to impact exponentially more children. For that, we are most grateful.”

The Decatur family, who chose to remain anonymous, said they made the gift to express their gratitude “to Decatur teachers and staff who do such wonderful work educating the children in our community, and who play such an important role in making Decatur a great place to live.” They also expressed appreciation to those who made a difference in their child’s education and said they viewed the Decatur Education Foundation as “the best vehicle for making an impact on students throughout the community.”

“This gift will impact youth across our community, at every grade level, and build on our successful partnership with City Schools of Decatur,” says Gail Rothman, DEF executive director. “But it’s more than a major act of generosity — it is also a catalyst for us to take the Foundation to the next level. There is so much more to be done to ensure that all children have what they need to be successful in school and in life, and we hope that it will inspire others in our community to join in our work.”

A portion of the gift has been set up to inspire additional donations to build broader, deeper support for the Foundation.  Every dollar given to the Decatur Education Foundation’s annual campaign between now and December 31st will be matched 1:1 up to $50,000 total. For more information and to donate, please visit DecaturEducationFoundation.org.