Friday, October 30, 2015

Bright Futures Joplin: Our work makes a difference in lives of kids every day

(The following item was posted a few minutes ago on the Bright Futures Joplin website.)

You may have heard that Bright Futures Joplin has requested to move its funds to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. There was discussion of this matter during Tuesday night's Joplin Schools Board of Education meeting. There are still questions remaining, but some great conversation was had surrounding BF Joplin finances and how spending works during and since the meeting.

From the feedback and questions we received, we've worked hard with the Joplin Schools finance department to clarify in this updated presentation. We encourage you to take a look at it and to submit any questions/feedback you might have to us. We will be posting more information in the coming weeks, so please check back.

Please know that we are working hard to evaluate BF Joplin programming, ensuring that we are staying on mission and doing the best things possible with the resources that have been entrusted to us. Joplin kids are our #1 priority, and we are committed to making sure that every dime spent and every hour worked is to the highest benefit of Joplin kids.

Just TODAY, we were able to 1) provide food for a family in an extreme emergency situation that would carry them over until they can get to one of our local food pantries and get established on their own, 2) provide emergency clothing to five different children in the district, 3) provide a voucher for an eye exam and glasses to a student in need thanks to a partnership with LensCrafters, and 4) assist a family after the death of a beloved mother who left her children behind. This work makes a difference in the lives of kids every day. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement of these vital efforts!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the surface this sounds like the stuff of more hero myths. However, how many families can their be who just lost their mama? Hmm. Not hard to violate that family's privacy.

This is all exploitation of the misfortunes of others in order to make one's own failings look less obvious. It is unprofessional and unethical. Please make these people go away so we can use that money as it should be in a way that doesn't hurt the kids in the long run.

Anonymous said...

Your work is to be commended and I thank Bright Futures for the work which has been done. However, it should be noted that Joplin R-VIII has always had funds set up -- with procedures in place so appropriate personnel could access those funds to meet the needs of individual students. Each school in the district has Guidance personnel assigned to their building, ready to address and assist with the many issues students face.

Anonymous said...

This says they are subject to the R8 Audit. Thought they were exempt because of their not-for-profit status --- or was that the other BF? In any event, too much money being spent on overhead and not getting where the donors intended.

Anonymous said...

*there

Anonymous said...

who cares??

Anonymous said...

Yawn...seems like turner is losing its red meat and struggling to sell books, books, always about the books.

kitty chiwawa said...

8:09 - thanks for the reminder, I still need to purchase mine, complete with author's signature. :)

Anonymous said...

Yawn is right, school personnel were doing this and much more long before Bright Futures and they didn't ask for any awards or special recognition. Dr. Ridder talks about cutting waste.

Anonymous said...

Not a lot to brag about for the whole district ... The nurse, counselor and staff at any school probably did as much without any publicity!