In The Spirit Of Giving

Eugene Christian School has opened its doors for the 50th year! Many people have generously invested time, money and their hearts so this school can celebrate its golden anniversary. When you look back at all the lives that have been impacted for Christ through the godly instruction, life-long friendships, morals and values imparted, and God's Word implanted in hearts, it is an investment that has reaped a thousand-fold return.

God has blessed this ministry in so many ways, but being a ministry, it will always have challenges. Here are some ways you might be interested in making a special gift to Eugene Christian School.

Financial Needs 2005-2006
Program Needs

Textbook readers for first and second grades - $4000

It is important to have updated grade-appropriate readers for our elementary students. ECS has an excellent reader system that helps children progress through reading levels in each grade. We have received donations and grants to update the textbook readers and supporting materials for grades three to five. We need to replace the textbook readers in grades one and two with upgraded materials that are consistent with the other grades. It costs $2000 per classroom to purchase 24 textbook readers and all the supporting materials.

Sponsor A Student - $20,000

We don't want finances to be a barrier to students who want to attend ECS. When the need for financial aid is greater than what we can offer, the Sponsor A Student Fund provides the extra resources to fill the gap so the family can afford the monthly tuition payments.

Development Department - donor management system - $4500

The goals of the new Development Department are to raise funds, connect with alumni and former families, increase enrollment, strengthen ties with churches and raise awareness about the school in the community. In order to manage donations, maintain the mailing list, track donors, alumni and generate financial reports, we need an adequate donor management software system. SofterWare has an excellent, affordable and very flexible software system called DonorPerfect that is specifically designed for schools. The current data system does not adequately track the information, but the information we have already captured can be transferred to the new database system. Parent volunteers will help with data entry to add and update alumni information and address maintenance.

Field repair - approx $40,000 (to be determined)

For the last couple of years, the ECS playground field has been water-logged due to the rising of underground springs. The City of Eugene, EWEB and several professional landscaping and construction firms have assessed the field and are in the process of preparing cost estimates to re-divert the springs and return the field to a useable state. Initial estimates indicate that the cost could range from $15,000 to more than $48,000.

Drama - $2,000

ECS has an annual drama production in the ECS Tishon Theater, which provides an opportunity for creative expression and building self-confidence in children. Sets, costumes and props need to be purchased for this year's production.

Computer Lab - $3,500

Generous donations over the years have provided ECS will an excellent computer lab that is equipped with new Apple eMac computers. The children in Pre-K through 8th grade are taught computer skills. Business computer skills are taught in the Middle School grades. Our current need is for software that is age appropriate for first grade and middle school, and ink cartridges for the printers.

Library - $7,600

The ECS Library has an outstanding collection of over 14,000 volumes. It contains a wide assortment of children's literature, reference books and magazines, along with 1,000 audio-visual titles. The children in all classes, Pre-K through 8th grade, use our library for class projects and personal reading pleasure.

This year the library needs:

Yearbook - $2,600

This year ECS is celebrating 50 years of providing quality Christian education. We would like to have a special historical segment in our yearbook that includes early photos and description of how God used men and women of faith to establish our school. This cost includes processing and publishing the 50th anniversary edition of the ECS yearbook.

Equipment Needs

Music - 10 New guitars @ $150 each, Total - $1,500

The middle school students can choose music class as an elective. Music is an important part of the educational experience for all children. Currently, the school has a need for ten new guitars so students can learn an instrument that can be a valuable lifelong skill.

Science Lab - Equipment $1000

ECS offers Life Science and Earth Science classes to middle school students and general science is taught in all elementary grades. Science supplies are needed for hands-on experiments. We believe that these classroom science experiences help demonstrate physics, natural science, chemistry, astronomy and a host of scientific laws and properties.

Playground equipment - $500

Recess is always popular with elementary children. Balls, playground toys and equipment need to be replaced often because they are used every day.

Building Maintenance & Landscaping - $1,000

ECS was built in the 1960s and needs constant maintenance and repair in order to keep up with building codes and to make the school a pleasant and safe facility for the children. Landscaping shows that we are proud of our school and care about the face we present to our neighbors.

Oregon Community Foundation

Recognizing the importance that stable funding represents to Eugene Christian School, in June, 2000, our board established an endowment fund at The Oregon Community Foundation to begin providing for ECS's needs far in to the future. Our endowment fund is overseen by OCF's large, professionally managed asset pool. In turn, ECS can receive distributions from our OCF fund, and we can add to it at any time.

Through the OCF endowment partnership, ECS can now offer our supporters the option of making a planned gift-often called a "life income" gift-that will ultimately benefit our endowment fund. OCF's staff works with us to explain and establish planned gifts such as charitable remainder trusts and pooled income fund gifts. OCF can serve as trustee and manager of these planned gifts, with income coming to you and your spouse (for example) during your lifetimes. The remainder of the assets at the end of your lives would then be added to ECS's endowment fund. If you would like more information about such arrangements, please contact Dave Hawkins on the ECS board at 344-3094.

If you are interested in making a direct gift to ECS's endowment at OCF, please contact Susan Baurer at ECS (686-9145) as well. Our board will make sure that your gift is placed in the endowment fund.

Gifts

General Gifts supplement the operational budget of Eugene Christian School and provide a hedge against inflation and emergencies. Charitable bequests and gifts to our school help shape strong, well-educated children and work toward ensuring a safe, Christian environment.

Since tuition only covers about 80% of the operational school budget, gifts and donations are greatly appreciated.

There are many ways to give to ECS including:

To learn more about the needs of Eugene Christian School, you may contact the administrator, Sue Baurer, or Rick Kincade, chairman of the ECS board.