Many members of our school community have reached out wondering how to help in this unprecedented situation. Here is a collection of ways that our members can help the greater community. In many cases we focus on supporting organizations that have infrastructure for more efficiency and greater reach than our own PTA. There are also some ways members can help support our school community at this time.
Even with schools closed, the Ballard Food Bank has kept up its program to provide Weekend Food for Kids directly to families in need. However, they are having trouble sourcing some of the food items that work best for these kids’ packs, such as canned soup, ramen/cup o’ noodles, canned tuna, and mac and cheese. If you would like to help, you can order something from their Amazon wish list, and it will be sent directly to the food bank. If the online wish list doesn’t work for you, please reach out to Amanda Van Kirk at vicepresident@cascadiapta.org to make other arrangements.
To support students in other ways, please consider donation to the Alliance for Education. In addition to their Right Now Needs Fund, which exists to fill the urgent and basic needs for Seattle’s kids, Alliance for Ed is supporting a program to ensure that every Seattle student has access to technology for distance learning. You may specify a directed donation via their donation form if you wish.
The Seattle Council PTSA is working to coordinate efforts to support Seattle’s schools. You can sign up for their resource coordination effort, or their technology support effort. SCPTSA is also coordinating regular on-line forums with Superintendent Denise Juneau, and the webpage is a useful source of information.
To support other vulnerable residents of Seattle, please consider donating to the Seattle Foundation‘s Covid19 response fund. Seattle Foundation strengthens the health and vitality of our community by connecting generous people with well-informed philanthropic strategies.
In order to help Cascadia directly please consider getting involved in efforts to provide community contact for Cascadia families. There is a current need for virtual-playdate hosts, and for an administrator for on-line galleries of student work. If you are interested in helping with either of these efforts, please email Megan Hazen at president@cascadiapta.org.
