We are writing in hopes that you, your family, and your business are doing well. We can hardly believe that a little over a year ago, we were planning Franklin’s 40th Birthday Bash. Although we weren’t able to celebrate the milestone in-person, our small public school has been maintaining its high-quality academic curriculum enriched by ongoing, integrated exposure to the arts. This year, we are holding an online auction to support our continued work in a hybrid setting. We realize that not every business will be able to donate this year, so we have prepared some options that will allow you to support Franklin in a manner most comfortable to you. Our non-for-profit arm shifted its spending to make sure every kid had a quality remote education and that every teacher had all the tools they needed. We have used funds to purchase the following:

Online apps such as RazKids, PearDeck, Gimkit
Art kits for any child who needed one
PPE for teachers and students
Student workbooks and online math curriculum
Additional staff to support primary student learning
Guitar repair so guitars could be delivered to homes
More support for both in-person and remote learning

Whether remote learning or in-person Franklin’s priority is to provide our diverse population, including 44% low-income families, exposure to dance, piano, drama, music, and visual arts. This is more than just our mission; it is about building our children’s future prospects and raising both outstanding students and citizens. Despite the dire need for the arts, programs like these are not fully supported by a lean CPS operating budget; so every dollar we raise bridges the gap between what CPS gives our school to run each year and the actual expenses for offering a robust arts education. 

We can only provide these learning and enrichment opportunities because of the generosity of businesses like yours. Thank you for your consideration in providing a donation for our event. There are several ways that you will be recognized at the event or school. All donations for our online auction receive:

advertising on our bidding site including your company logo
a description of your company 
a list of the services or goods offered
a logo and description sent out in our weekly newsletter
a spot on our website
if offering a camp, lessons, or after school program, we would be happy to pick up brochures to be sent in kids’ backpacks who are in-person

Our auction is on May 25th. We are open to receiving the donation electronically, through snail mail, or can safely pick it up. We also offer sponsorship packages that include a banner on our school fence on Wells and Goethe if you are interested. If possible, please take a moment to fill out this survey with possible options for your donation or to let us know that you cannot give at this time. 

Sincerely,

Friends of Franklin

Morgan Halstead (VP of Fundraising) and  Brooke Fernandez-Shultz (President)

Friends of Franklin Fine Arts Center is a taxexempt, 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization. Tax ID 770603953. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Visit foffac.org for more information.