A Legacy of Giving Annual Report

2008-2009 School Year

A Legacy of Giving initiated or re-established partnerships with Austin Independent School District, Kathy Caraway Elementary School in Round Rock, Forest Trail Elementary School in Eanes, St. Gabriel’s Catholic School and Trinity Episcopal School. There were 14 participating schools this year, a 56% increase over the nine that participated last year. In September 2008, A Legacy of Giving launched a year-long calendar of events during which 120 teachers delivered The LEAGUE curricula to their classrooms. Over 3,600 school children learned about three or four social concerns and participated in corresponding real-life exercises that taught them the value of their time and efforts.

The students' first project, The Drive, focused on homelessness, hunger and poverty.  In November, students collected 32,244 pounds of food and clothing for the Capital Area Food Bank, equating to $182,322 in economic value returned to the Austin community. Three participating schools were among the top 10 in the country and were awarded a trip to New York City with The LEAGUE.  For their next project, students at five Title I schools learned lessons in financial literacy and created their own forms of demonstration to teach others what they had learned. The lessons focused on such issues as “wants” versus “needs,” credit and how to handle money responsibly. Webb Middle School students were chosen as the winners of The LEAGUE State Farm Financial Literacy Grant Poster Competition and awarded a trip to the 20th Annual National Service-Learning Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Several Legacy schools also participated in Art from the Heart, a project that helped students understand the joy of creating something beautiful for others.  Students choose their own art form and recipient. Examples included haiku cards for a children’s hospital, valentines to a homeless shelter, cards and treats for orphanages in India and recorded skits for troops abroad. Finally, during the Earth Day event, Keep Austin Beautiful supported student-led environmental stewardship activities such as campus cleanups, installing native habitats/gardens and recycling. Meanwhile, seven Title I schools also participated in the Sooch Empowerment Challenge, funded by The Sooch Foundation, in which students applied for $1,000 grants for projects of their own construction. These projects, as well as all of the aforementioned ones, have been truly inspirational, and A Legacy of Giving is incredibly proud of the accomplishments in philanthropy that students at these 14 Austin schools have made.