Rancho Santa Fe Education Foundation thanks its many generous Community Partners

Submitted by the RSF Education Foundation

It has been said that it takes a village to raise our children. We are fortunate to live in a community where we truly have a village that cares about our children in many ways and creates a friendly and safe place for them. One of the ways the businesses in our community show this is by their generous contributions to the Rancho Santa Fe Education Foundation (RSFEF) that supports the R. Roger Rowe School (Ranch School). We are fortunate to have many community sponsors from large corporate/community sponsors like Wells Fargo Bank, The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, and Merrill Lynch to smaller businesses in our local area providing goods and services that allow the Foundation to spend most of its donations on funding things that actually benefit our children in the classroom.

This past year the RSFEF pledged $1 million to support the Ranch School. This grant funds the RSFEF’s “Five-Star Education Program,” which includes “Small Class Sizes, Specialized Teachers, Literacy Excellence, Integrated Science and Differentiated Mathematics.” So far this year the Foundation has close to $950,000 cash in the door, with about $24,000 of pledges due for a deficit of nearly $27,000. The RSFEF hopes that those families who have not contributed will help us beat the deficit before the end of the school year. To date, 82 percent of all school families and 92 percent of the school’s staff have contributed to the RSFEF. The Foundation would like to thank all our community partners who are responsible for in excess of $75,000 in donations in actual dollars and in-kind gifts.

Three Key Community Partners

Wells Fargo is one of three key community partners. “At Wells Fargo, we believe education is crucial to the future of our nation’s success, and the Rancho Santa Fe office is especially proud to be supporting our local school and enriching the education of our community’s children. Over the last several years, we’ve provided the R. Roger Rowe School with $100,000 in funding that’s gone toward the Five-Star Education Program, Cap and Gown Ceremony and Newcomers’ Event,” commented Peter Morimoto, senior financial advisor, Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC.

Another key community partner is The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The Inn is truly a beautiful landmark in our town and a delightful spot for families and visitors to meet for a meal and for guests to stay. It has supported the RSFEF in countless ways, including hosting events such as the annual Toast of the Town & Kids’ Art Auction and annually providing food for one of the staff appreciation luncheons each year. (This year’s art auction will be held June 7 at The Inn.) Recently, The Inn has changed ownership. Gordon MacMitchell, general manager for The Inn, noted, “We are very committed to the community of Rancho Santa Fe and are looking forward to continuing the long-standing relationship with the Ranch School.”

Merrill Lynch has also been a key partner for the RSFEF, donating $10,000 per year this year and next for a total of $20,000. Glenn Oratz, a managing director in Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group office in Rancho Santa Fe, states “Merrill Lynch is very proud to partner with the RSF Education Foundation. We believe it is important that businesses with an established presence in Rancho Santa Fe help provide financial support to the school in order to enhance the educational experience for the children in our community.”

Generous Local Business Support

The RSFEF is very fortunate to be sponsored by many of the smaller businesses in our community, as well. The places that we frequent in our daily lives that make this feel like a community such as the Village Market (www.rsfvillagemarket.com).

“I’ve been here 16 years and know a lot of the students and parents,” said Matthew Basham, manager of the market. “We like to be part of the community.” He adds that it is important to the owner of the market. Just this past week, the Village Market generously supplied otter pops for students participating in Field Day.

Tim Cusac, owner of Rancho Sandwich (www.RSFLunch.com) and Café Positano, shares the same commitment as the Village Market. “Rancho Sandwich is proud to be energizing the kids (and parents) during Field Day for the fifth year in a row. We’ll be serving two of the tasty and healthy 30-plus rotating flavors of non-fat, active culture frozen yogurt that we serve year round at the shop in the Village. It’s a great refresher and will be available all summer long at the shop.” Mr. Cusac generously donates 25 percent of the gross from these events to the RSFEF.

This year the RSFEF has sponsored two community socials to build community spirit and raise money at the same time. In October a dinner was held at Brett’s BBQ (www.bresttsbbq.com) in Encinitas with a portion of the proceeds going to the RSFEF. Bruce Weisman of Brett’s BBQ said, “The R. Roger Rowe dinner was the most successful school event we’ve ever done!” When asked why he supported our school, Mr. Weisman simply said, “I believe when you have a business in the community you support the community.” Brett’s BBQ has locations in both Encinitas and 4S Ranch. A similar fundraiser was held at Crust Pizza (crustpizzeria.com) in Carlsbad at the beginning of the month with 20 percent of all food and beverage sales going to the RSFEF.

Your Donation Still Needed

The RSFEF needs everyone’s support to continue to provide a world-class education at the Ranch School. We encourage all families who have not yet contributed this year to make what contribution they can. Additionally, we are looking for more partners.

“The RSFEF will be expanding its efforts this fall with community and corporate partners, said Mark Nelson of the RSFEF Community Partners team. “While we have enjoyed great support from the community and local businesses, we have secured only a handful of major corporate supporters. We will be actively working to engage major public and private corporations in support of the Ranch School.”

For questions or more information please go to www.rsfef.org or contact the RSFEF at 858-756-1141 x208. The difference is you!