The Henderson Kentucky Education Foundation is set to launch a membership drive both to grow the organization and raise awareness about its local initiatives and plans.
“We need more advocates in our community to speak about what the education foundation is doing,” said Patty Sellers, a retired principal of Niagara and teacher at Bend Gate who is the foundation’s director.
The membership drive officially kicks off April 1.
Sellers also said the foundation, which currently consists of a 16-member board of directors, wants to open opportunities for the entire community to be involved.
According to Sellers, members will be subscribed to a biannual newsletter compiled by the HKEF, have the opportunity to serve on HKEF committees, will be invited to HKEF functions and celebrations. Members will also be invited to attend HKEF board meetings.
Increasing the number of members is important, but so is sustaining the programs the foundation undertakes while also adding more, which board members think a diverse new group of members could spur.
“We are so open to new programs,” said Jenny Richmond, a board member who also works as a communications specialist for Henderson County Schools.
Some of the more well-known HKEF initiatives are engagement grants for teachers, the Henderson Kentucky Teacher Store and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
HKEF took over managing the Imagination Library from the Henderson Chamber of Commerce in 2023. With that, the foundation pays for the shipping to mail books to the homes of children ages birth to 5 for all Henderson County families that sign up. Normally the cost is a bit more than $3,200 per month. But the governor’s Office on Early Childhood Education currently pays half of the shipping, Sellers said.
The Henderson Kentucky Teacher Store involves a room full of classroom supplies that have been gathered by those affiliated with HKEF and members of a Henderson Leadership Initiative group that got the store launched last year.
Sellers said HKEF had been wanting to take on a teacher store for a while, but had not been able to because of other programs they were working on. When the HLI group approached HKEF, group members pitched starting the store and then turning over the management of it to HKEF, which is what has happened. Teachers from across the county can get a set amount of free supplies from the teacher store each quarter of the school year.
Another initiative is engagement grants with which teachers can buy supplies for specific projects in their classrooms, Sellers said. In spring 2022, HKEF developed a grant application and a scoring rubric and invited teachers to apply for supplies. Sellers said HKEF awarded $10,000 that first year, doling out grants that ranged from $250-$1,000.
Another current board member, David Thomason, explained that the HKEF was first organized as a fundraising arm for Henderson County Schools in the late 1980s. At the time, organizers believed they needed one big project to get the foundation up and moving. In the early 1990s, they found the project—putting a computer lab in every classroom in the county, said Thomason, who was one of the founders of the original foundation, then called the Educational Foundation for Excellence in Henderson County.
As the years passed, the foundation lost steam and for lack of involvement fell out of existence. The foundation, though not active, received a revival of sorts when former educators Leo and Mary Winchester bequeathed $125,000 to the foundation, Thomason said.
That pushed the foundation to reorganize, Thomason said, adding it was right at the time schools were figuring out when or if they could reopen because of the Covid-19 pandemic. With some of the bequeathed money and a reorganization, the foundation was able to buy 300 hotspots to allow students without internet access to get access to virtual learning, Thomason said.
“That kind of brought us back and gave us a base,” Thomason said.
Now, with that base—and initiatives taken on since—the foundation wants to grow. Sellers said the foundation would like to attract 300 new members in the first year.
She said there are three different membership levels.
An individual membership is $120 per year or $10 a month. A corporate membership is $250 per year.
Finally, the foundation offers an educator membership at reduced rates—$60 a year or $5 a month. Sellers said the educator membership is for current or retired teachers, school administrators and school staff.
One final point is that the foundation was initially organized specifically to work alongside the public school system, Thomason said. Now, though, the foundation also works in cooperation with Holy Name School and Henderson Community College.
For more information, go to hendersonkyedfoundation.com. To become a member, click on “Join HKEF.” Readers can also scan the QR code below this article to join.
