With overwhelming community donations, La Crosse Public Education Foundation introduces forever fund

Children in school need all kinds of support and not all kids and families are able to fund needs and supplies.

Thanks, however, to community support of an endowment fund through the La Crosse Public Education Foundation (LPEF), that will be easier for lots of children in the district.

Kids in need of clothing, school supplies, eyeglasses, hygiene supplies, or help affording fees for field trips will get help – forever.

“We were asking to try to raise about $300,000 and the community, like it always seems to do, stepped up and has helped us reach the $500,000 level for this permanent fund,” La Crosse Public Education Foundation Executive Director David Stoeffler told WIZM.

LPEF has provided Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) funds to La Crosse public schools for over 20 years, and with these donations, it’s now the RAK Forever Fund.

These funds allow school staff to discreetly provide support to children in need — when they need it —with no questions asked and no application required.

Its website states in a typical school year, RAK met a student need more than 2,400 times.

LPEF doesn’t even know the names of the students, because that’s not what’s important, Stoeffler added.

What’s important to LPEF, he said, is that the students are allowed to just continue to participate in school and to enjoy being a kid. It’s all handled at each local level.

“This endowment fund, really makes it a lot easier to say yes to all of those kinds of circumstances that come up,” Stoeffler said.

Across 15 schools, the total cost for the RAK is around $30,000 per year, but was higher last year due to special needs caused by the pandemic.

To donate, or to learn more and see a short video about RAK, go to the campaign website.