Education Nonprofit Begins 10th Year
When the Greater East Hampton Education Foundation has its annual Drive to Educate golf outing on Wednesday it will also be starting its 10th official year helping children in local schools.
The foundation supplements programs in all the public schools in East Hampton Town as well as the Sagaponack School. It provides scholarships for high school seniors, including a $10,000 scholarship each year, and has given away more than $180,000 so far.
Teachers can apply for thousands of dollars in “mini grants” each year for projects that are not covered in school budgets, and through the foundation’s Author in Hand program every child in kindergarten through eighth grade is given a book of their own choice each year.
Among other projects, the foundation has supported the visiting scientist program and fourth-grade opera in Springs, the Harvard Model Congress in East Hampton, and access to Tutor.com through the East Hampton Library.
The organization had its origins with a former East Hampton superintendent, Ray Gualtieri. Teresa Talmage, the foundation’s president, said Mr. Gualteri, who served as East Hampton’s superintendent between 2003 and 2011, pitched the idea to a group of community members and educators who were immediately receptive. The organization incorporated as a nonprofit in 2005.
“It has become an absolutely amazing project for us,” Ms. Talmage, who joined the organization in 2006, said. “The community is thrilled with it. The children are delighted with their scholarships and it has made a huge impact on them. We’re always trying for more. . . . It’s a very rewarding foundation, I believe.”
In 2010, the foundation funded a new playground at the John M. Marshall Elementary School and last year it supported East Hampton High School’s Robotics Club.
“It’s a great, collaborative partnership that we’re very happy to be a part of,” Richard Burns, the East Hampton district superintendent, said. “We’re very appreciative of their support of worthwhile projects for our students. It’s a win-win for us, quite honestly.”
But challenges exist, most notably the foundation’s attempts to capture financial support from the seasonal community.
“The summer residents don’t seem to know about us,” Ms. Talmage said. “We would like them to know about us so maybe they could help us, too. We do our fund-raising and seem to reach the same people. It’s a very small community when it comes to something like that.”
“People out here are inundated with requests and solicitations. There are so many wonderful organizations that need support. . . . When you look at everything, we’re geographically isolated even though the Hamptons are so well known. But for schools it’s different. It’s even more difficult reaching those people,” Debbie Mansir, a former president of the group, said.
The golf outing will take place at the East Hampton Golf Club on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett, starting with registration at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch. Golfing starts at 1:30 p.m. and a two-hour, open-bar cocktail party with prizes and raffles follows at 5:30 p.m. The event costs $1,500 per foursome and includes the lunch, greens fees, caddies, and the cocktail party. Individual tickets to the cocktail party are $25.
The golf outing is one of the two main fund-raisers; there is also a gala the first week in May, which is sponsored largely by a few local families, including the Bistrians and the Krupinskis. Ms. Talmage and Ms. Mansir said relatively few donations come in otherwise.
The organization is also seeking volunteers to help at these events. Information about how to get involved can be found at gehef.org.