MOORE HAVEN — A nearly $12,000 grant of matching funds from the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF) will enable Glades County’s own organization to assist local schools and double the impact of donated dollars.

The CFEF recently gave the Glades Education Foundation (GEF) $11,914.79 in matching funds through the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program.

The Glades Education Foundation raises its money through the Ragin’ Cajun Feast for Education every October and individual donations. Those funds combined with the state matching grant funds provided nearly $24,000 to the Glades County School system to finance classroom grants as well as provide funding to the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) college readiness program.

This year’s classroom grants provided library books to teachers, field trip funding support for students to visit St. Augustine, and books as well as classroom materials for the Agriculture/STEM class at Moore Haven Elementary School.

The AVID program in Glades County continues to prepare students in grades three through 12 to become better learners by teaching organizational skills, note-taking, and collaboration. High school AVID students learn about college-readiness and navigating such hurdles such as financial aid, college applications and standardized testing.

Donations to the GEF are eligible for matching dollars through this grant allocated by the Florida Legislature for the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program.

Through the collaborative effort of its members, the CFEF successfully advocated for the creation of legislative matching funds in 2000, which has provided a dollar-for-dollar incentive for local education foundations to raise private contributions for eligible projects. Since then, nearly $92 million in combined private and state dollars has been employed for local projects that serve low-performing students and literacy initiatives, encourage STEM and career/technical education, improve teaching quality and/or increase graduation rates.

The CFEF is the membership organization for Florida’s school district-wide local education foundations. Established in 1987, the CFEF maximizes the individual and collective strength of Florida local education foundations to support local partners and schools in achieving student success. The CFEF now has 65 member foundations, with 1,100 business and community leaders serving as volunteer board members. Collectively, they raise $64 million annually to support students, teachers and schools through a variety of programs.

The CFEF has facilitated more than $46 million to local education foundations since 2002 through various private- and public-sector partnerships, including the Florida School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program.

To learn more about the CFEF and the statewide impact of the program, visit educationfoundationsfl.org.