Guest editorial: The Falcon Foundation – 30 years of service

The Falcon Foundation's 30th year started with a big surprise. We were notified that a local Colfax community member, Carolyn Carter, bequeathed a substantial gift to our organization. To say the board was surprised is an understatement; we were shocked. In total, Ms. Carter left more than $900,000 to our organization. The Falcon Foundation accepted this donation as a permanent endowment to be invested to benefit students and programs for generations to come. The Falcon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public educational foundation located in Colfax whose sole purpose is to support students and programs at Colfax High School (CHS). We were incorporated in 1993 and have proudly worked for three decades to bring necessary resources to the school. We work closely with CHS and Placer Union High School District. We raise funds to support and enhance academic and extracurricular programs for CHS, award scholarships and grants to the school and individual departments, teachers, students and student groups, and conduct outreach and connection with CHS alumni to facilitate resources and opportunities for CHS students. The Falcon Foundation has two major committees: CHS Grad Night Committee and CHS Parent Teacher Alumni Committee. The Carolyn Carter donation led our organization to create a new Annual Grant Program for all staff at CHS. Our board has worked diligently to create the new program and processes to facilitate grant distributions. We piloted our new program in the 2022-23 school year by awarding a grant for significant improvements to the Performing Arts Center at CHS. The Performing Arts Center is a school-wide resource for many academic, extracurricular and community gatherings. We granted more than $28,000 to required improvements to replace an aging sound system, including the addition of a new wireless microphone system for performers, as well as improvements to the theater stage. The CHS Creators of Riveting Entertainment (CORE) student group has already used these improvements for the spring and fall 2023 productions. For the 2023-24 school year, the Falcon Foundation fully implemented our Annual Grant Program and we were thrilled to receive nine outstanding applications for proposed activities and improvements at CHS that impact a wide array of academics and extracurriculars at CHS. We are pleased to be able to fully or partially fund seven of these applications this year with $37,000 granted to CHS, resulting in benefit to every student. This includes investments in physical facilities, academic programs and sporting teams. We are pleased to bring funding for two new ceramic wheels and a roller slab, nine new digital cameras, a new sound system to the Pucci Pavilion and secure storage for the girls softball program. We are very excited to support instructional materials for a new science course on wildlife, fisheries and forestry. We are grateful for the opportunity to bring new equipment to student-athletes. We look forward to this annual program growing and bringing funding and resources to CHS for many years to come. In addition, we work with clubs, sports and groups on campus to facilitate money-earning activities. We can assist with implementation of raffle fundraisers as well as creation of GoFundMe campaigns. Last year, we helped clubs raise nearly $6,000 to enhance student experience at CHS and this year we're on point with similar fundraising. Follow us on social media to see how you can help these students fundraise for their causes. The Falcon Foundation Board is comprised of all local volunteers and we are proud of the accomplishments we have achieved over 30 years. We aspire to grow our support to CHS to bring much-needed resources to our small, rural community. We welcome donations to both our general fund and specific causes at CHS. Tax-deductible donations can also be made directly to The Falcon Foundation through the PayPal Giving Fund: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2439471. We can also receive Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs to offset required minimum distributions. (Consult your tax advisor for more information on this donation opportunity.) Many companies offer matching gift programs to encourage employees to contribute to charitable organizations. Most of these programs match contributions dollar for dollar, and some will even double or triple the amount of your gift! The Falcon Foundation will qualify under most programs. The Falcon Foundation is made up of parents and community members looking to do good locally. We welcome people to come to our meetings and join us in our efforts to support CHS. Contact us at chsfalconfoundation@gmail.com to find out more, or learn more about our upcoming meeting dates or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/THEFALCONFOUNDATION/ or Instagram at @thefalconfoundation. Laura Owens is president of The Falcon Foundation.