Schools count on parent volunteers...

October 7, 2009

Schools facing tight budgets are counting on parents for help this fall, with a poll by Harris Interactive and GreatSchools finding 53 percent of parents plan to volunteer at their kids' schools, up from 44 percent last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 7. (see parent volunteering story). The start of the school year spurred a 50 percent increase in volunteer signups at VolunteerSpot.com, a website for organizing volunteers, to 75,000 from 50,000 last summer.

FOX confirmed American Idol will air its Idol Gives Back charity special April 21 to raise awareness and funds to benefit Children's Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children's U.S. programs and the United Nations Foundation. Us Magazine reported Oct. 6. (see Idol charity story). Idol Gives Back, which aired in 2007 and 2008 but not last season because of the recession, has helped raise over $140 million for charity.

The endowment at Duke University, now worth $4.4 billion, lost 24.3 percent of its value during the fiscal year ended June 30  WRAL-TV reported Oct. 6 (see Duke University endowment story). Proceeds from the endowment generate about 15 percent of Duke's annual operating budget, and the losses have forced Duke to trim $125 million from its annual budget over the next three years.

The Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Centeral Florida won $1 million in federal stimulus money to help dozens of nonprofits serving low-income people in Central Florida communities hit hard by the recession improve their services, the Orlando Sentinel reported Oct. 7 (see nonprofit stimulus story).

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