KIDS Grants Blankets for families in need
D181 Foundation BY MIKE ELLIS
T
he greater Hinsdale community is distinguished for its general commitment to education, long boasting some of the finest public schools in both the state and nation.
Since 1997, the District 181 (D181) Foundation has been supplementing the work of the district at-large, while functioning as a conduit between the community and the nine District 181 schools in Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Burr Ridge. According to D181 Foundation executive director Meg Cooper, the foundation germinated with an exploratory committee stemming from the board of education, charged with examining whether it would be beneficial for the district to create a foundation.
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Cooper said the committee learned that foundations are quite common in public school districts across the Chicago metropolitan area. From its inception, the D181 Foundation has grown considerably, having supplied roughly $1 million to support district-wide initiatives to date. "We work together to sort of bridge the community to the District 181 schools, with the purpose of providing resources for the schools to enrich and enhance the children's educational experience," Cooper said. The foundation is funded through individual donations and business sponsorships and partnerships, with both revenue sources providing approximately equal funding.
Among its various donors, the HinsdaleClarendon Hills Rotary Club has made the largest overall contribution to the D181 Foundation, having made it a beneficiary of the Rotary Run Charity Classic for a number of years. Other prominent funding partners include Hinsdale Bank and Trust, whose CEO Dennis Jones was an original foundation board member, and CHT Orthodontics, which has amplified its support of the foundation in recent years. The D181 Foundation board is comprised of 15 to 25 community members, teachers and administrators. Board member Colleen Wilcox said its value to the D181 consists in concentrating
