All WS/FCS Schools Receive Checks as Education Foundation Classroom Supplies Fund Reaches its $1.4 million Goal

All schools in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) district are receiving checks this week from the Education Foundation for classroom and printing supplies thanks to ongoing community fundraising by the All In For Our Schools campaign. In September, the Education Foundation set a goal of raising $1.4 million for essential classroom supplies that was seeded by a $500,000 donation from community philanthropists Mike and Wendy Brenner. The goal was reached thanks to a donation of $400,000 by Modern Automotive.

"When we learned about the funding shortfall for basic classroom supplies, our family knew we wanted to step forward in a meaningful way. Modern Automotive has grown alongside this community for generations. Weare grateful for the opportunity to support our schools and hope this contribution makes an immediate and tangible difference in classrooms across the district,” said Rob Fowler, President of Modern Automotive.

Members of the Education Foundation, Modern Automotive and others are hand delivering checks to each school in the district this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The checks are being distributed along with thank you notes to teachers, principals and staff collected from the community by All In For Our Schools.

The $1.4 million in direct payments to schools from the Education Foundation represents the remaining 50% of the classroom and printing supplies funding typically allocated by WS/FCS across the district. At the start of the 2025-26 school year, district leadership announced that schools were receiving only 50% of their expected funding for classroom and printing supplies as the district determined how to balance its budget for the year in the midst of the ongoing financial crisis.

“Ensuring our teachers and schools have the full funding for the supplies they need was a key fundraising priority of the Education Foundation,” said Marni Eisner, executive director of the Education Foundation. “Thanks to the generosity of the many donors who made contributions to the Classroom Supplies Fund, our schools now have the funding to cover their paper needs, printing supplies and other essentials for the remainder of the schoolyear. We are incredibly grateful to Mike and Wendy Brenner who seeded this campaign at the outset and to the team at Modern Automotive for their gift that took this fund to the finish line.”

Eisner emphasized that local schools have significant additional needs outside their classroom and printing supplies budget. The All in For Our Schools website, www.allinforourschools.org,includes Amazon Wish Lists provided by each school with items purchased on those wish lists then shipped directly to that school. There are also links on the website to the Every Shelf, Every Student book drive, the WS/FCS Student Success Fund and the WSFCS Futures Fund which supports the district’s ongoing efforts to reduce its debt.

To date, All In For Our Schools has raised more than $8million in private donations from individuals, foundations and corporations across its different funds.

• ‍$1.4 million for the Education Foundation Classroom Supplies Fund
• ‍$5.8 million for the WSFCS Futures Fund which has been used to fully repay the district’s $3.4 million debt to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and to make an initial repayment of $2.4million toward the district’s $6.1 million debt to ESS, a substitute teacher vendor.
• ‍$849,523 for the WS/FCS Student Success Fund to help with specific school needs such as student health assessments, volunteer background checks, ESL translation services, and other resources that help students succeed. The first installment of $663,500 from the Student Success Fund was made to the WS/FCS Board of Education on November 10, 2025.

“All of our funds remain open, and we encourage everyone to make a donation of any size to the All In For Our Schools campaign or purchase a school wish list item,” said Eisner. “Our efforts are not only making a huge difference financially, but the generosity shown by this community is letting our teachers, administrators and staff know how much we care.”

To make a contribution or view Amazon Wish Lists from WS/FCS schools, visit www.allinforourschools.org.

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