We Are The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia

The Wharton 5K returned on March 26 for the first time since 2019. Organized by the Wharton Council and the Wharton Roadrunners, the annual race for charity is the University of Pennsylvania's largest event of its kind, and this year’s edition benefitted The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia.

School Bus Drivers and Garage Operations Staff Selected as One of Wawa’s “Catering to Our Communities” Recipients of a Free Catered Lunch to Recognize Unsung Heroes; Announce donation of 80,000 COVID Test Kits to the District

FCM Hospitality’s Avram Hornik steps up to address food and supply-chain and labor shortages; visits Swenson Arts & Technology HS with chefs to present donation, cook with students during CTE Month

In the early morning hours of January 5th, 2022, a fire tragically took the lives of 12 Philadelphians in their home, including nine children, several of whom attended Philadelphia’s public schools. The School District of Philadelphia was overwhelmed with calls from people asking how they could help. That’s when we stepped in with a Family Support Fund for the survivors, and that’s when you stepped up to lend a hand. More than 630 of you donated to help to the family members in the wake of unimaginable loss. Although we have now closed the fund to new donations, your gifts will continue to lift these families up in their darkest moments in the days, weeks, and months to come.  Thank you for your compassion and generosity.

In 2022 we will be presenting our annual Homecoming Weekend, a citywide alumni weekend supporting Philly public schools! Philly Alumni Homecoming Weekend kicks off with the Homecoming Awards Gala, followed by the Welcome Home School Tour, and concluding with the Battle of the High School Bands & Tailgate Party!

Learn more at phillyalumni.com

Please, help us match a generous $10,000 contribution by Philadelphia native star Lil Dicky, and make your gift to support literacy, STEM, and other important educational projects through Philly Fundamentals today. 

As a reminder of what you helped us to accomplish in fiscal year 2020; we present our Year-In-Review. We are constantly seeking new ways to support our schools and students and we thank you for joining us!

Being an independent nonprofit that serves as a fiscal intermediary between the private sector and the Philadelphia public education system means evolving and reflecting. As we look back on the 2019-2020 school year, one word comes to mind: adaptability. The School District of Philadelphia is always adapting in its ability to meet the changing needs of all public school students in our city, and the Fund is proud to serve as its partner.

Please take a look at what you helped us accomplish, here.

We are incredibly grateful to ALL individuals and organizations who have contributed to Philly Public School through Dress Down Day! We especially want to thank those organizations who have donated substantially to our campaign, bringing much needed resources to dozens of schools across the City. 

Through its new Feeding School Kids initiative, The GIANT Company announced that together with its customers, more than $3.3 million was raised to address the issue of childhood hunger throughout local public school districts in the communities it serves. The total donation was formally announced at James R. Ludlow School in Philadelphia with the help of The School District of Philadelphia School and Fund, who received more than $414,000 from the effort.

To mark the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wawa and The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia (The Fund) recognized over 3,000 essential District employees who have remained onsite to provide food and support to students and families in need. 

Grants include funding for online science during pandemic. Investments will support in-school, out-of-school and career training programs.

The Fund has been awarded $100,000 by the ​Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation​ ​to support the new Meaningful Meals program to provide Philadelphia families in low-income neighborhoods with boxes of healthy food.

Penn will contribute $100 million to the School District of Philadelphia, representing an unprecedented commitment to the City and its public schoolchildren. This is the largest private contribution to the School District in its history.

Check out our very own President & CEO of the Fund, Donna Frisby-Greenwood, in Generocity's article "10 Philadelphia-area leaders on what’s next for philanthropy".

The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia (The Fund) announced it received a $1.5 million unrestricted grant from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. The contribution will be used to help address educational and equity issues across the District that have only been heightened by today’s crises.

For a long time, it was a dream that seemed like it might never come true.

Overbrook Education Center, the Philadelphia School District’s school for blind and visually impaired children, had many things other schools would envy: small classes, engaged families, extracurricular activities, talented students who often go on to have their pick of the city’s select high schools.

The Roberts Family Donates $5 Million For Laptops to Help Philadelphia Students Start Online Classes by Mid-April.
Funding Will Help Support the Purchase of 50,000 Chromebooks by The Philadelphia School District for Online Learning.

Harris recently donated $100,000 to The FUND. It will support early literacy efforts and teacher retention and recruitment. On December 16th he visited Bethune Elementary School where he gave all 50 teachers $100 gift cards, invited two families to the Sixers game on Christmas Day, and met with the school's Black male teachers. Bethune has the highest number of Black Male Teachers of any school in the state of Pennsylvania.

2019 Philadelphia Alumni Homecoming Honorees pictured from left to right. Dr. Janet Haas, Michael Brown, Joe Fields, Ellen Lissy Rosenberg and Aaron McKie.

Last year, The Goldenberg Group and the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia launched the inaugural “Dress Down Day” initiative to raise funds and build support for public schools.  More than 1200 people purchased shirts resulting in more than $38,000 in sales benefitting 140 different Philadelphia Public Schools! Get your gear here and join us on October 4th!

Philly FUNDamentals is a new site, developed by the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, that allows any donor to find a school and give directly to that school’s needs identified by the principal. Learn more about giving to Philly Schools through Philly FUNDamentals. 

Read Philadelphia Inquirer Op-Ed by our President & CEO Donna Frisby-Greenwood.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his wife, Aileen Kennedy Roberts, donate $450,000 to close out the Right Books campaign.