Schools need donations for learning tools

Students in Riverside County do not all have access to the electronic tools they need to participate in distance learning. Consequently, they are coming up short in their ability to keep up in the remote classroom. The Riverside County Office of Education Foundation is out to fix this by raising $100,000 to purchase these essential supplies.

Currently, all students in Riverside County are experiencing a first semester of school that includes keyboards and screens as the continued spread of COVID-19 has led to schools operating the 2020-21 school year with distance learning programs.

Unfortunately, all the training and preparation that educators have put in over the summer to prepare for a robust distance learning experience this school year is powerless to bridge a digital divide that students without access to technology continue to experience and navigate.

Although the schools and districts are working on finding solutions to provide equitable access to these essential school supplies and devices, ensuring that all students are online for the school year will require additional support.

There has never been a greater need for students to have reliable internet service and regular access to a computer or tablet. The schools need help to meet this ongoing need.

Thanks to generous donations from corporate donors like Farmer Boys Restaurants, Microsoft and dozens of individual donors, more than $40,000 has been raised. The foundation now needs donors to make up the difference.

Here are ways the foundation has set up for individual donors to show support:

All For 50

This tax-deductible gift of $50 will pay for a portable hotspot device for a student and siblings within the same household to gain reliable access to the Internet for distance learning to start the next school year.

All For 250

This tax-deductible gift of $250 will provide a laptop computer and a portable hotspot device for a student to participate in distance learning from home to start the new school year.

All For 500

This tax-deductible gift of $500 will provide two laptop computers and a portable hotspot device for three months of Internet access for all students within an entire household.

All For 1000

This tax-deductible gift of $1,000 will provide two laptop computers, a portable hotspot device for Internet access for one full year for all students within an entire household.

All For 5000

This tax-deductible gift of $5,000 will provide for a full classroom of laptop computers to serve students on-campus and via remote learning.

Gifts can be made through the All For One GoFundMe or via check payable to RCOE Foundation and mailed to Riverside County Office of Education Foundation, Attention: Ed Lewis, Foundation Director, P.O. Box 868, Riverside, CA 92502-0868. For questions, contact Ed at elewis@rcoe.us.