Lee County Education Foundation, Worthy Lands Trust team up for second $150,000 grant to Lee County schools
LCS elementary school principals and teachers receive 2021 LCEF donations
With this gift, LCEF passes $1 million mark in contributions to LCS
November 17, 2021
SANFORD — Not long after it was formed, back in 2003, the Lee County Education Foundation began awarding small grants to local teachers.
A few hundred dollars here. A thousand or so there.
Founder Dennis Wicker’s vision, though, was always much bigger.
On Thursday, in the atrium of W.B. Wicker Elementary School, LCEF Chairman Susan Keller distributed checks totaling $150,000 to the principals of each of the 17 schools in the Lee County Schools district. In awarding the grants — thanks to a partnership, for the second year in a row, with the Worthy Lands Trust of Sanford — LCEF surpassed a significant milestone: including the small grants early on, the series of $50,000 “Head of Class” grants awarded to elementary schools beginning in 2011 and the $75,000 given during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and then again Thursday, the foundation has now contributed more than $1 million directly to schools in the county.
Wicker, a Sanford attorney, long-time N.C. House member and N.C. Lt. Governor under Gov. James Hunt, made that announcement during remarks to an invited group of teachers, key support staff, LCS administrators and board members Thursday.
“I must say I am incredulous that we have been able to give away over $1 million with this grant to the public schools,” he said. “I believe that this is a catalyst that will spur even more gifts and support for the Foundation and public education. Our children only have one shot in their lifetimes for an education that prepares them for the future. Our donors, educators, parents and civic organizations have stepped up and created a better future for our students.”
In addition to the $1 million given so far, the Foundation has also built an endowment of another $1 million — and then some. The Foundation’s near-term goal is to continue to “move futures forward” in Lee County Schools by bring incentive pay awards, like its Head of Class project, to the county’s middle and high schools. Anyone can make a contribution to this public/private partnership by visiting the organization’s website, www.leecef.com.
“It is almost unfathomable to me that a community of our size could generate over $1 million in private support for public education and create an endowment of over $1.5 million concurrently,” said Kirk Bradley, a past LCEF chairman who continues to serve with Wicker on the organization’s board. “I applaud Gov. Dennis Wicker’s efforts to organize the LCEF and its positive impact on our community and its most important asset — our children. I think this gift speaks to the generosity of our community and their demonstrated support of public education that we can provide these grants to Lee County Schools from private sources. Everyone recognizes the challenges that our students, faculty and staff have faced during COVID. This grant is an important way to help with those challenges.”
The Foundation paused its Head of Class project — which recognizes the most-improved elementary school in year-over-year performance — in 2020 after COVID struck because statewide end-of-grade testing was canceled. Seeking a way to still help Lee County Schools, the LCEF boosted its annual gift to $75,000. The trustees of The Worthy Lands Trust, a foundation created by the estate of long-time Sanford residents Ruby and Ernest McSwain, agreed to partner with LCEF a year ago and match that $75,000 — creating the $150,000 COVID relief grant a year ago. They did so again this year, creating back-to-back $150,000 grants for the system’s schools.
This year, each school received a cash donation from the foundations’ joint effort; 13 schools were given $10,000 gifts, while four (Lee Early College, Warren Williams, Bragg Street and Floyd L. Knight) received $5,000 each.
“I am so pleased that the philanthropic, business and education communities have come together to make this second round of funding for the Lee County Schools,” Wicker said. “In particular, I am deeply grateful to the Worthy Lands Trust for making a significant contribution which enables all the schools to have additional resources to our schoolchildren who have been impacted by the pandemic. This whole effort, by everyone, truly speaks volumes for how much we care about making sure our students continue along the path of receiving a first-class education in Lee County.”
The Lee County Education Foundation’s board members and supports recognize the correlational relationship between education and economic development.
“The first private-sector initiative to turn around Sanford/Lee County’s fortunes was Dennis’ efforts to start the LCEF,” said Bradley, the president and CEO of Lee-Moore Capital. “That brought several leaders together that ultimately led to The 2nd Century Project, Mayor Chet Mann’s Open for Business Agenda, CCEP, etc., that has created the remarkable expansion of jobs and tax base here the last two years. It’s a straight line. Education is workforce development and Dennis understood that and organized a private effort to make a difference.”
In distributing the monies on Thursday, Chairman Keller reminded those in attendance that the Lee County Education Foundation was founded with the mission “to empower educators, and move futures forward — forward in a positive way.”
“And this includes the futures of individual children, of our teachers, of our school system, and our community as a whole,” she said. “The public private partnership that is LCEF is here to support everyone in this room. It is a unique Foundation — this public/private partnership. And one that has worked very well, from the first grants bestowed nearly 20 years ago to the innovative Head of Class program that emerged in 2010 and had been in place until 2020. 2020 came, and we as group pivoted — like all of you. We wanted to show our support and respect for what you do, and somehow recognize the mountain of challenges that COVID-19 presented by giving some relief financially, and so last year each principal received monies to use for direct pandemic relief. We are so fortunate that these monies became even more impactful because of the Ruby & Earnest McSwain Worth Lands Trust, which matched our grant monies so that LCS could receive $150,000. The WLT has generously given this match yet again, so that we can provide some financial support to every school in LCS system.”
Wicker said he hoped the biggest legacy the Foundation could establish is demonstrating how people can come together for the greater good.
“I am confident that the Foundation is going to become a bigger force in helping our children succeed,” he said. “I believe this Foundation will be a clear example of how, by working together, we can achieve not only the greater good, but something that will change lives for the better for generations to come. The success of this Foundation has clearly been achieved by the leadership of Lee County making it happen. Nothing is more meaningful than for me to speak with people around the state and tell the story of how we established this Foundation for our children in Lee County. It has been a pure joy to see the accomplishments the Foundation has made the last two decades.”
Organized in June 2003, the Lee County Education Foundation is recognized by the State of North Carolina as a non-profit corporation and by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. It is managed by a president who reports to a 16-member board of directors. Foundation offices are located in Sanford.