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Dear Friends,

It is my great honor to greet you today as I begin my term as President of the Board of Directors at the Woodland Hills Foundation. As many of you might know, 5 years ago, together with a group of impassioned parents in Woodland Hills, I was one of the H.U.G.S. (Helping Unconditionally and Giving Support) members to help bring about the merger of this unique school program with the Woodland Hills Foundation. The union came with one stipulation: at least one member of H.U.G.S. would need to join the Board of the Foundation.  At that time, 5 of us made the leap and several of us remain. Thus began a journey that would, in time, take me to a place where I knew I could make real change and be a positive force in the community.

It was also the beginning of my relationship with Dr. Gough. I’d known of his presence at the Foundation for some time and our paths kept crossing as teachers and administrators encouraged us to meet one another. It is not often that you come across a man like Dr. Gough. He is at once passionate and pragmatic. Commanding yet kind. In 2018 I was elected Vice President of the Board and that is when Steve began to share his knowledge with me. Often, much of what we do at the Foundation goes unseen. Unlike many nonprofits, we have a very small operating budget and rely almost entirely on the village for support. And in fact, for almost the entirety of the Foundation’s existence, nearly 100% of your donations went directly back into the District. But as the Foundation began to grow and the need for our services became more apparent, we knew we needed a dedicated full-time staff member in order to meet the demands of the District. As we hoped, the position is now self-sustaining, and we are raising more funds for our community than ever before. But to build on this momentum, we must rely on your continued support.

So, as we say goodbye to Steve and I take on my next role, there is one word that comes to mind: Thanks.

Thanks to Dr. Steven T. Gough for his role in creating, maintaining, and growing the Foundation into an unmatched system of support for the School District.

Thanks to everyone at H.U.G.S. who joined us when we created a system of volunteer support for Woodland Hills and who continue to serve the community with your time and talents.

Thanks to the Foundation for respecting and believing in the work we were doing and for championing our efforts.

Thanks to the entire Board of the Woodland Hills Foundation for their confidence in me and for valuing my skillset and ideas.

Thanks especially to our Director of Development, Jennifer Trehar, whose talents, and dedication have ushered in a new phase for the Foundation and enabled us to do things we previously could only imagine. 

And most of all thanks to all of you. For helping us grow the Foundation into an organization we can be proud to call our own. It truly does take a Village. I know that I can count on you as we move into this next phase—together.

Sincerely,

Jessica R. Reed
Board President

On December 8, High School Principal Shelly Manns shared a plea to her followers on Facebook. Her goal was to raise enough funds to purchase a small present for EVERY student in the High School. Parents took the lead and set up donation pages on PayPal and Fundrazr.com.  As soon as the Foundation learned about this initiative, we knew we could help! In just two days, the Foundation secured over $1,000 gifts from you, "The Village". And today, our combined total is $3,566.50! We are more than halfway there but we still need your help! "The Village" showed up in support of our little ones over Halloween, now let's give our High School Students some love! Please donate whatever you can today!

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO DISCUSS ADDITIONAL BENEFITS, EMAIL JENNIFER.WHFOUNDATION@GMAIL.COM

Since 2016, the Woodland Hills Foundation has helped teachers' dreams for their classrooms come true through our Dream Book. Dream Book requests are for much-needed supplies and other tangible teaching tools, which are not supported by tax dollars and often go unfilled because of budget restraints.  As Dreams are received and approved for inclusion by our Dream Book Committee, they are added to the book which is then shared with our network of donors.

Now, to make the process as easy as possible, we have introduced our new "Fund a Dream" page. Here, donors can review the current Dreams and choose which Dream they would like to help fund! Donors can fill the Dream in full or they can contribute as little or as much as they like!  This new page also features individual progress bars so that users can see how much of the Dream has already been filled.

Remember, when you fill a teacher's dream, you make their classroom better for your children!

 
 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

 

Contact Us

Woodland Hills Foundation
P.O. Box 321
Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania 15145
8882813241
info@woodlandhillsfoundation.com

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