By Emily Williams
Rising from humble beginnings, the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation this year is celebrating its 20th anniversary at its annual Dinner and Diamonds fundraiser.
A founder of the original campaign to create the foundation, Sharon Lovell has seen two children and one grandchild through the Vestavia Hills City School System and has two more grandchildren in high school at VHHS.
“I’m at a point now and I may want to sell that big house, but I’m not moving out of Vestavia,” Lovell said. “I won’t have any more kids in the system anymore, but I don’t want to live anywhere else. I care that I’ve got good value in that house to sustain me.”
Lovell attributes her sustained property value to the prestige of the city’s school system and the support it receives from the
VHCSF.
“Look who benefits,” Lovell said. “Not only the school system but the community, the businesses and the real estate. All of those are beneficiaries of how well our school system does.”
She added that, because a good school system attracts more people to the community, businesses and parents in the community seem happy to supply the VHSCF with donations to help provide Vestavia schools with the additional funding they need to support students.
More than four years before the foundation’s official formation in 1996, Lovell and a few of her peers from her Parent Teacher Association joined together to try to form a foundation.
“We looked at other school systems and their foundations,” she said. “It was really an inspiration for us. I think Homewood’s was already in place and they were doing well.”
Lovell said the group began working with a lawyer in the area to try to set up a plan to create a foundation for Vestavia.
“The PTA was forever being asked for funds for this project and that,” Lovell explained. “Bottom line is, the PTA didn’t have that much to give and what we did … we had to use to support all of the schools. So, a group of us got together and decided we had to have something else.”
The group sought to answer the un-ending question: how does a school system cope with lack of funds? Lovell’s group saw a need to keep up with the advancement of technology and the every-changing needs of teachers in order to provide every Vestavia Hills student with the opportunity they needed to succeed.
Like all public schools, government funding is provided, but Lovell said the money was and continues to be inadequate.
It took a few years for the foundation to raise enough funds to grant money back into the system. In its earliest days, the foundation raised money through grass-roots campaigns, going into the community and networking.
“I remember, in the beginning, when parents went to register their kids for school, there would be a little blurb at the bottom of the page that read, “If you would be interested contributing to the foundation…” Lovell said. “We’d get a few donations, but nothing substantial.”
It took three years for the foundation to raise enough money to provide its first grant. Since 1999, VHSCF has awarded $783,610 to the city schools and the board of education. This year, the foundation will award 13 grants to Vestavia’s eight schools and the Board of Education, totaling $55,610. The foundation has an endowment of $2.2 million.
The funds provide curriculum enhancements, money to buy technology-related equipment and funds for professional development and technology-training opportunities for teachers.
Lovell said the board of the foundation chooses where to award those funds by listening to the suggestions of the teachers.
“They keep up with what is new and what they need to progress and teach,” she said. “The foundation puts out a questionnaire of sorts and the teachers fill out the applications for the grants and based on the need, the board decides who gets what. You would be surprised how much we can afford to give them and those teachers will tell you that it is a godsend.”
Lovell said that, as long as she is breathing, she will be involved in the VHSCF. As an ex-officio member of the board, she helps the foundation as an ambassador to grandparents in the community.
“You cannot overlook what this does for the children,” Lovell said. “Vestavia is really very diverse and some of these parents can’t afford to buy extra supplies and laptops and everything they need, so we do it for them.”
Lovell and the VHSCF board are looking forward to celebrating 20 years of supporting Vestavia schools at the Dinner and Diamonds fundraiser Feb. 27 at Regions Field. The event will include music by the Fountain City Players, a live and silent auction and a selection of diamonds by Paul’s Diamond Center. Tickets are $80.
For more information, visit www.vestaviafoundation.org.
