The Eagle Foundation of Sidney, under Director of Programs at the Sidney Chamber of Commerce Katie Dasinger, is focused on meeting the everyday needs of Sidney’s school children.
Originally founded in 2000, Sidney community leaders recognized a deficiency within classrooms to provide materials that meet the educational needs and opportunities of local school children and teachers.
As a non-profit, the Eagle Foundation strives to promote, maintain and improve educational standards through access to learning materials — in all shapes and sizes, from pencils to track fields.
As an indicator of the scope of the Eagle Foundation’s outreach efforts, the non-profit has donated hundreds of thousand of dollars to schools in Sidney over the last 20 years.
“Over the past two decades, with the support of educators and community members, the Eagle Foundation has been able to donate over $800,000 to Sidney Public Schools that would not have been available otherwise,” Dasinger said.
Aside from meeting the everyday needs for educators and students within the community, the Eagle Foundation also has larger projects oriented to helping provide high-quality key equipment to sports facilities.
“Some of our favorite large-scale projects include the new track at Sidney High School (SHS,) the new home concession stand at SHS, the playgrounds for both Central and West Side and the bleachers at SHS,” Dasinger said. “While these large projects are the most visible to our community members, Eagle Foundation also provides grants every spring with an average total of $10,000 invested back into the classroom.”
The Eagle Foundation’s perception of education is to make critical social and educational skill sets, lessons and the materials accessible through innovative teaching platforms.
“Some of the most unique grants we have provided in the last few years include the book vending machine at Central School, a Drunk Driving simulator for Driver’s Education, Coding Robots and flexible sensory seating and tools for each Sidney Public Schools building,” Dasinger said.
Throughout the year, the Eagle Foundation hosts two Bingo nights, with all of the proceeds donated directly to funding for grants. There is also funding made available for students in need, and $1,000 is made available to each building for emergency funds.
Staff members at Sidney Public Schools are all enrolled in the “Give me $5” program. This program allows staff to donate five dollars with each paycheck to the Eagle Foundation.
“Without our staff support, we would not be able to provide the number of grants we do annually,” Dasinger said. “This year, the Eagle Foundation sold yard signs that said “Eagle Nation” in hopes to show off our Eagle Spirit.”
For more information or to purchase a yard sign, please contact the Eagle Foundation at eaglefoundationinc@gmail.com or on Facebook at Eagle Foundation, INC.
