Freehold Students Trained on New Fundraising Strategies to Raise Money for School Sustainability Projects

Students and teachers in Freehold, Newark and Morristown New Jersey are embarking on ambitious “crowdfunding” campaigns to bankroll sustainability projects at their schools. New Jersey Audubon, the National Wildlife Federation, and ioby, a crowd-resourcing platform for citizen led neighborhood projects, are teaming up to provide free training and support to participating schools while the PSEG Foundation is matching donations up to $2,000 per school. C. Richard Applegate School of Freehold is participating in the first of two rounds of the matching grant program.

A fresh take on the old bake sale, crowdfunding typically seeks to raise money through small gifts online from large amounts of people. In this case, teachers are turning the experience into a learning opportunity and working with students to raise more than $13,000 to green their schools.

C. Richard Applegate School in Freehold is raising money to build eco-tool boxes to help reduce school waste and increase recycling. https://www.ioby.org/project/eco-cool-tools. Students will use these toolboxes every day after lunch to measure lunch waste as well as perform audits in the classroom. The baseline data that is collected will help guide students in the design of a waste reduction action plan that will include increased composting and recycling. With a budget of $4,150, the eco-tool boxes will be filled with tarps, gloves, tablets, calculators and more. Fundraising is off to a great start with $2,308 raised so far. A substantial amount came from the student’s themselves as they tapped their piggy banks and formed a line down the hall to purchase globe key chains as part of the school’s “Give Green to Go Green” campaign. Students also created a promotional video to spread the word about their efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abq5A0P6f0A&feature=youtu.be

Debbie Wilson, chairperson of the Applegate Green Team says “Our aim is to empower the students to look at their own behavior and provide them with the resources they need to initiate change. We are just one school, but we are part of a larger district and a whole community. If we can significantly reduce waste and waste fees here, we envision we can effect change beyond our school walls.”

Two other Eco-Schools are participating in the program this fall. Seek Academy in Newark is transforming an abandoned lot in the South Ward into a thriving school garden that will provide outdoor experiences and inexpensive organic food in a neighborhood where fresh food and green space is largely unavailable. https://www.ioby.org/project/growing-our-school-garden-south-ward-newark

The green team at Unity Charter School in Morristown is building a living wall for their outdoor classroom and creating a learning trail through a native plant garden on site to offer greater opportunities for outdoor learning and nature observation. https://www.ioby.org/project/green-unity.

All three schools are participating in Eco-Schools USA in New Jersey, a partnership between National Wildlife Federation and New Jersey Audubon. This international program recognizes and provides free resources to schools integrating sustainability into the curriculum and on school grounds while increasing student engagement with STEM academics. The program has gained ground with over 3,000 schools participating nationwide and 182 schools registered in New Jersey.

National Wildlife Federation reports that in a recent survey of Eco-Schools, 42% of teachers cited lack of money as a leading impediment to success in sustainability initiatives.

“Kids have access to more information than ever before about the environment. They want to do something with that information and have a positive impact on their world” says Dale Rosselet, vice president for education, New Jersey Audubon. “We don’t want to see a lack of funding get in the way of that so New Jersey Audubon has created the PSEG Foundation’s school sustainable grant program with the National Wildlife Federation and ioby to empower teachers and students to raise the funds needed to create sustainability programs in their school. In addition to the “on the ground” sustainability projects this program will result in, it will also train a new generation of students and teachers on fundraising and communication skills that will allow them to tackle even more projects.”

Through the PSEG Foundation’s sustainable schools grant program, participating schools have guidance and training from New Jersey Audubon staff and from ioby, New Jersey schools will have another opportunity to get on board in early 2016 when nine more schools will be invited to participate in the program. For more information about the program and each school’s project visit ioby’s campaign page: https://www.ioby.org/njecoschools2015

About Eco-Schools

Eco-Schools is an international program in 60 countries with over 3,000 participating schools in the United States. The program, hosted by the National Wildlife Federation in the United States, and coordinated by New Jersey Audubon in New Jersey has 182 schools registered throughout the state. The Eco-Schools program recognizes and rewards schools as they work to extend learning beyond the classroom and develop responsible environmental attitudes and commitments both at home and in the wider community. Eco-Schools USA in New Jersey supports and directly aligns with Sustainable Jersey for Schools point-based system. With support from PSEG and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Eco-Schools USA is able to provide a staff person on the ground to help New Jersey schools reach their goals. For more information: http://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA.aspx

About National Wildlife Federation:

National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization inspiring people to protect wildlife for our children’s future. NWF focuses its education and policy work on connecting children to nature for a nation of happier, healthier kids. NWF’s state affiliate is NJ Audubon. For more information: www.nwf.org.

About New Jersey Audubon:

New Jersey Audubon is a privately supported, not-for profit, statewide membership organization that fosters environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New Jersey’s citizens; protects New Jersey’s birds, mammals, other animals, and plants, especially endangered and threatened species; and promotes preservation of New Jersey’s valuable natural habitats. For more information: www.njaudubon.org.

About PSEG Foundation
The PSEG Foundation (501c3) is the philanthropic arm of Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG). The Foundation invests in programs that align with our giving focus areas: Sustainable Neighborhoods, STEM Education, Safety and Preparedness and PSEG Employee Engagement/Volunteerism. The PSEG family of companies also provides funding to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. Through our corporate giving, we support dinners and other events across our service and operating territories, as well as sponsorships for sports, arts and entertainment. PSEG (NYSE: PEG) is a diversified energy company based in Newark NJ. PSEG has three main subsidiaries: PSE&G, NJ’s largest and oldest combined gas and electric delivery company, PSEG Power, a merchant power generation company and PSEG Long Island, operator of the Long Island Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system.

About ioby
ioby is a non-profit online platform for citizen-led, neighbor-funded projects. Its mission is to strengthen neighborhoods by supporting the leaders who want to make positive change, engaging their neighbors, one block at a time. For more information please visit www.ioby.org.