By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
When Ivy Cohen, the Lawrence Township Education Foundation’s new executive director, moved to Lawrence six years ago, she knew she wanted to become more involved in the community — and what better way than through the public school system?
Ms. Cohen’s son had just started school at the Ben Franklin Elementary School, and she attended the school’s back-to-school night. Among the activities was a presentation by the Lawrence Township Education Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports the schools by awarding grants to teachers for special projects.
When Ms. Cohen learned that the LTEF was seeking volunteers to help plan its fundraising gala in honor of its 15th anniversary, she offered to help out. It was a natural for Ms. Cohen, who earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management at the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in business administration from Philadelphia University.
Ms. Cohen, whose two children attend the Ben Franklin Elementary School, continued to help the nonprofit group through periodic financial contributions and through another fundraising effort by the foundation — this one, to buy a piano for Lawrence High School.
So when the position of LTEF executive director became available, Ms. Cohen jumped at the chance to apply. Diane Senerth, the first executive director, had resigned after 13 years in the post. Ms. Cohen was soon hired, and began work recently.
”It’s a good way to get a little more involved with the local community,” she said. It was also a change of pace for the 36-year-old Andrew Drive resident. She had spent the past 10 years organizing fundraising and volunteer initiatives for health-related organizations such as the American Heart Association, the National Kidney Foundation and the NephCure Foundation.
Although Ms. Cohen enjoyed working for health-related organizations, she said the appeal of the LTEF is the immediacy of the results. Teachers apply for grants for special programs, and the foundation awards money for selected grants — more than $2 million since its inception in 1992.
Now, faced with budgetary and financial constraints, school districts that have similar education foundations may begin to lean more heavily on the nonprofit groups to supplement — and the Lawrence Township public school system is no different.
”I think the role of the LTEF is going to change,” Ms. Cohen said, adding that the foundation is looking to increase its fundraising so that it can fund more grant requests and funnel more money back into the schools.
The LTEF receives about $200,000 annually in donations from corporate donors such as Bristol Myers-Squibb Co., the Educational Testing Service, Rider University and The Lawrenceville School, Ms. Cohen said.
Money also is raised through LTEF initiatives such as the APPLE program (Applauding the Phenomenal Performance of Lawrence Educators), the 180 Club whose donors contribute $1 a day for each of the 180 days of school, the faculty and staff payroll deduction campaign and the annual Friend of the Foundation campaign.
Although the LTEF would like to approve every grant application, it’s not possible to do so, Ms. Cohen said. In that case, the foundation may look to outside resources to see if there is another way to find money for an application. A pharmaceutical company may have a grant available that would help fund a science program, for example, she said.
Ms. Cohen also said the foundation also wants to increase awareness of the group and what it does, noting out that some people do not realize it is not part of the public school district. To raise awareness of the LTEF, she said, the group plans to make presentations at back-to-school nights and to have a presence at Community Day next month.
”We want to support the schools as much as possible in these economic times,” she said. “The teachers are wonderful, amazing individuals and we want the children to have the best experience possible.”
