What We Do
So, what is the Eastside Community Pride Foundation about anyway?
Want to know more? Check out our finances:
Our tagline is our purpose:
Uniting Our Eastside Community
As we said in our Mission Statement, our focus is to make a positive impact in the lives of children on the Eastside of Toledo, Ohio by giving them the sense of community we felt growing up here.
Sometimes that means giving them food to eat and coats and hats to keep them warm. Sometimes it’s a book or school supplies. Trunk or Treat . . . of course. Supplemental materials for our teachers? Done.
Eastside Community Pride is now focusing on Birmingham, Navarre and Oakdale Elementary Schools. We get the teachers supplies they need. We help keep the kids warm in the winter. We help fill the food gap for families to get them through tough times.
It benefits the students, sure. But it also benefits our community. Because kids who are raised feeling the support of those around them will pay it forward when they grow up.
We’re not just helping our community get through these challenging times. We are hoping to create a better future for us all . . . starting on the Eastside of Toledo.
What exactly are we doing right now?
Annual Coat Drive
These past three years, ESCPF has collaborated with Lisa Sedlak and her employees at Danberry Realtors to run the increasingly successful Danberry Coat Drive each winter. Their generous time and efforts ensured every student, family member and partner at Birmingham and East Broadway schools were ready for the winter weather with new coats, hats and gloves.
Our first year was 2018, and we gave away 500+ coats, hats and gloves to Oakdale Elementary students and their families.
In 2019 we were able to give over 800 coats and other items to students and families from both Oakdale and Birmingham Elementary Schools.
The 2020 annual Danberry Coat Giveaway added Navarre Elementary School along with Oakdale and Birmingham. With our students learning at home, knowing or finding families who needed help was just one of the obstacles we overcame to give away coats, hats and gloves to over 400 families for a total of over 900 items this year!
We are truly grateful to Lisa Sedlak and her team at Danberry Realtors!
School Supplies
The Eastside Community Pride Foundation has found a way to cut through the red tape to give our teachers and students what they need . . . and right away. With generous donations from individuals, Waite alumni, community organizations, our partners, local small businesses and our own fundraising efforts, we have given away thousands of dollars in supplies the last 3 years.
In 2018, our amazing donor Dave Gluckle financed our teacher wish lists.
In 2019, we had basic supplies available in each school building, and teachers “shopped” for what they needed. We also purchased headsets for hearing-impaired kids and a radio with a CD player for a kindergarten teacher. The special ed teachers received attention and discipline aids like fidgets, bands, yoga balls, putty and kinetic sand, thanks to a donation by Premier Bank.
While students took their supplies home for 2020, teachers usually keep the supplies in the classroom. Basically, if there is a need, we try to find a way to take care of it.
6th Grade Camp
In 2018, we sent 36 kids, 6 adults and 4 counselors to summer camp that spring. Until COVID hit, we were on track to send every 6th grader again in 2019 and 2020. Before ESCPF, no one had gone on the Eastside for ten years.
Our goal is to continue our record of sending all of our 6th graders from our sponsored schools and giving a bag of socks, rain ponchos and hygiene products to take with them.
We also have our eye on a 3-day leadership camp for nominated 7th and 8th graders. We’ll let you know how you can help.
2020 Mobile Food Drives
COVID-19 caused us to quickly lose daily contact with our students and families, and the ESCPF felt the need to reach out to our community members during the spring of 2020 with mobile food drives.
We started with a message to families via social media that we would be at the park with bags of groceries if they needed any help or if they knew any families that needed any extra support at that time.
That first day, 13 families came or sent friends, and we delivered groceries to 20 more families.
As the need grew, our foundation partnered with Co.Mission Toledo to offer a food drive twice a week: one day at the park and another at the Family Center. Supported by a grant from the United Way, we helped an average of over 200 families in need each week for 4 months. By the time the ESCPF handed administration of the drives over to Co.Mission, we had given out over 10,000 bags of groceries.
We are truly grateful for Co.Mission, the United Way and all the selfless volunteers who helped bag and share food to our neighbors in need.
Teacher Thank Yous
We feel that teachers aren’t thanked enough for their tireless efforts, so the ESCPF has provided a Welcome Back luncheon, thank you bags with t-shirts and gift cards and anything else we can think of to let them know our community is there for them as they are for us.
Got an idea on how to support our teachers and staff? Let us know!
Partnerships
We’ve learned that the most successful ventures are those where we collaborate with other organizations, and we are truly grateful for their help.
We recently began a partnership with the Toledo Arts Commission and the Metroparks of Toledo to link students to various youth programs in 2020-2021.
Working with Co.Mission Toledo, ESCPF helped feed 2000+ Eastside families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why We Do It
Just how big of a need is there in the Toledo Nickel area?
Of the three schools we currently sponsor (Oakdale, Birmingham and Navarre), an average of over 93% of the population is economically disadvantaged. What more proof do we really need that the Eastside Community Pride Foundation can help make a difference in The Nickel?
Oakdale
- population by race: 17% Black, 26% Hispanic, 13% Multiracial, 47% White
- 91% economically disadvantaged
- 7% come and go within a year (called mobility, which negatively impacts students’ education)
Birmingham
- population by race: 24% Black, 22% Hispanic, 14% Multiracial, 40% White
- 93% economically disadvantaged
- 13% mobility
Navarre
- population by race: 21% Black, 20% HIspanic, 16% Multiracial, 40% White
- 96% economically disadvantaged
- 12% mobility