Greenwich Country Day School’s Center for Public Good has been awarded a prestigious Edward E. Ford Foundation Grant of $100,000.
The grant will support cultivating new and existing partnerships with non-profit organizations in the local community and beyond. It will allow GCDS, a leader in the local community, to continue to evolve the service learning program into a fully integrated curriculum and an influential component of everyday conversations and decisions. Additionally, the E.E. Ford grant will allow GCDS to expand the Center for Public Good grant awards to a greater number of applicants. Finally, this grant will allow for the creation of more opportunities for service internships and funding personnel to manage the program.
“As a school that has been committed to public service for almost a century, we are thrilled to be able to deepen and strengthen our relationships with over 40 nonprofits in the greater Fairfield Country area and beyond,” said GCDS Head of School Adam Rohdie in a release. “The grant stipulates that we need to raise an additional $300,000 in a 3 to 1 match and I know that the GCDS community will be up for that challenge as these dollars will continue to make our world a better place.”
Since its founding and core to its mission, service has been an integral component of the Greenwich Country Day School learning experience.
In 2019, the Center for Public Good was established in order to secure and strengthen one of GCDS’s most cherished traditions. The Center for Public Good’s purpose is to nourish our innate desire to make the world a better place, to learn about society and its needs, and to be inspired to take action.
“It is a gift to be able to run the Center for Public Good at a school where so many current students, employees, and families, as well as alumni, and families of alumni want to engage in service work, said Jen Donnalley, Director of the Center for Public Good, adding, “Ensuring that our youngest students are involved and engaged in meaningful service learning is the most important step in developing service as a habit. With the addition of a high school, we had the unique opportunity to build a program before we opened the doors of our new division. Our Upper School students will each create an individualized service plan to intentionally ensure that service is a part of their lives while in high school, but more importantly, throughout their adult lives. Adding another person to our team will allow us to continue to create new programs to meet the interests of all of our students. One of the best aspects of running the Center for Public Good is the opportunity to bring together our youngest and oldest students in the service of others, and I am thrilled to be able to expand these opportunities as well!”