our proposal

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Before you get alarmed that we are proposing that each of the 96 of us who survive have to donate over $1,000 each to meet this goal, rest assured that this goal was based solely on the symbolism of our class size.  The figures of $117, $1,170, and $11,700 didn't sound like attractive figures, nor will they spin off enough earnings to make meaningful funding of projects that will accomplish good things for our Alma Mater,   We are realistic enough to know that not everyone in our class will participate in this project and that this goal will not be reached in a single 1-year campaign.  We expect that it will be an on-going campaign that will appeal to your appreciation for the contributions our teachers made to our lives.  We expect that the donations to the fund will come from a variety of giving--repeated small gifts, gifts by family members in honor of the classmate and other donations that are described below. 

There was discussion about setting up a trust fund that could survive us in perpetuity.  Then, we discovered by talking to Dick Gardner, Superintendent of Sheffield City Schools, and Ronnie Wicks, Principal at SHS, that there is already a tax-exempt foundation which is prepared to receive funds from outside sources and disburse them in support of SHS programs--The Sheffield Education Foundation.  
The foundation administrators have created a specific trust fund within the foundation that will keep monies we raise separate from the other foundation resources and will be used for specified purposes.  There will be no public disclosures of the amounts given by individuals, although from time to time, a report of the total amount received to date will be made.  For example, as of the first of August, 2006, the fund has received $2,556 from classmate donors.  You can bet that the last two digits were the doing of Buck Locke who is BIG on symbolism.

Buck is in charge of the fund-raising drive.  He will be contacting each of you in a number of ways.  You just received his souvenir facsimile of the Colbert County Reporter with the article about our Golden Reunion that was published in that newspaper, and it contained a short appeal for you to consider making a contribution to the fund.  We've all heard about fund-raising efforts like this from our colleges and our churches.  They want us to give cash now or promises of cash or property in the future (things like bequests in wills, insurance policies, land, buildings, etc.).  The latter practice of "estate giving" is a relatively new fund-raising tactic, but it is a very effective one--and one that is relatively painless to the donor--for a long-term worthwhile charitable project like ours. 

While the classmate who remembers this project in his or her will may not personally enjoy the fruit of the donation in their lifetime, they have the satisfaction of knowing that their bequest of a meaningful size will be significant for the success of the project.

Buck wants to hear from you whether you are wholeheartedly behind this project of a Class Gift, if you need more information or discussion about it, OR even if you are dead-set against it.  We want this gift to be a meaningful memorial to the Sheffield High School teachers of the 1952-56 era when we were young, eager, impressionable and didn't have a clue about careers and responsibility.

HOW WILL THE TRUST FUND WORK? Click Here