For the Downers Grove District 58 Education Foundation, children are the center of everything.

Since its founding in 2002 by 18 members of the Downers Grove community, the District 58 Education Foundation has enhanced teaching and learning for tens of thousands of preschool through eighth-grade children in District 58. Over the past decade, the foundation has donated more than $400,000 in financial support to help District 58 offer expanded learning opportunities, primarily in the form of annual classroom and building grants. This year alone, the foundation funded more than $35,000 in grants for District 58 schools.

Education-enhancing projects and purchases made possible through the grants program over the years have included interactive technologies such as iPads, Apple TVs and interactive whiteboards; hundreds of books; a virtual frog dissection program; a career exploration program; “road trip” backpacks filled with audiobooks for families; and Rachel’s Challenge, a program fostering a culture of compassion and kindness at District 58’s two middle schools.