Latest News
October 20, 2025
Nearly $1.5 Million Raised for Schools and New Fund Established to Reduce District's Debt
In just four short weeks, All In For Our Schools has raised $1,482,680.58 to support the immediate needs of Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS). More than 200 donors have given to one of three key funds supporting local students, teachers and schools through the website, AllInForOurSchools.org.
All in For Our Schools has set a fundraising goal of $3 million for these funds which support school supplies, books, student health assessments, AP exam fees, background checks for school volunteers, and other resources for the current 2025-26 school year.
During its Sept. 17 launch, All in For Our Schools announced that community philanthropists Mike and Wendy Brenner pledged$500,000 to match all contributions made to the Classroom Supplies Fund. Last week, the Winston-Salem Foundation announced it was contributing $500,000 to the WS/FCS Student Success Fund. The third fund, Every Shelf, Every Student, is helping fund urgently needed books and textbooks through Bookmarks. To date, 2,046 books have been purchased on behalf of WS/FCS students. The more than $1.48 million raised to date represents 49.4% of the $3 million fundraising goal.
“It’s important that we meet our $3 million goal for these three funds by December when schools will need additional resources for the second half of the school year,” said Marni Eisner, executive director of the nonprofit Education Foundation in benefit of Winston-Salem/Forsyth, an independent foundation formed in 2022 to raise monies to support teacher and student enrichment. “Our intention is to begin disbursing funds raised to date starting right after Thanksgiving.”
The Winston-Salem Foundation also announced today the establishment of the WS/FCS Futures Fund to support private fundraising efforts to reduce the district’s debt. The Foundation is contributing $500,000 to seed the fund. The WS/FCS Futures Fund also will include the $400,000 committed by the Twin City Development Foundation on Oct. 14 during the WS/FCS Board of Education meeting.
“In order to put our focus and energies back on securing a bright future for public education here in Forsyth County, we must work quickly and collectively to eliminate this heavy burden of debt,” said LaTida Smith, president of The Winston-Salem Foundation.
“With this announcement, we hope other institutions, businesses and individual donors will follow our lead in making contributions. Public education is the bedrock of a strong and growing community, and it will take all of us working and giving together to ensure that WS/FCS is positioned for success now and in the future.”
Earlier in October, The Forsyth County Commissioners voted to forgive the amount raised privately by Dec. 31 against the $5 million owed to the county by WS/FCS. To make a contribution to the WS/FCS Futures Fund, visit wsfoundation.org/futures-fund.
“There is urgency to our fundraising efforts in terms of meeting the immediate needs of our schools for the current school year, addressing the district’s debt to the state, and leveraging the forgiveness opportunity toward the monies owed to Forsyth County,” said Eisner.
“We are inspired by the stories of donors who are giving in honor of grandchildren, in memory of mothers who were teachers, and in support of their current teachers.”
To make a gift, visit the All In For Our Schools website, AllInForOurSchools.org which links to all funds described below as well as to Amazon Wish Lists compiled by each school.
- Education Foundation Classroom Supplies Fund to raise $1.4 million toward the immediate school supplies shortfall. Contributions will be directed to the 81 individual schools across the district by stocking their classrooms with high-quality school supplies such as printer paper and ink, art supplies, science lab kits, notebooks, and other tools forteaching.
- WS/FCS Student Success Fund to support students across the school district. The goal for this fund is just over $1.5 million with contributions directed to the WS/FCS system to cover specific needs such as curriculum booklets, background checks for school volunteers, student health assessments, ESL translation services, and other resources to help students succeed.
- Every Shelf, Every Student book drive led by the nonprofit Bookmarks, an independent non-profit bookstore in Winston-Salem, includes a curated list of urgently needed books available for purchase totaling approximately $85,000.
- WS/FCS Futures Fund established by The Winston-Salem Foundation accepts community contributions to support the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District and its efforts to reduce debt and provide a quality education for students living in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
“Whether you are making a donation to a fund, purchasing a book or fulfilling an Amazon Wish List need, your generosity makes a huge difference to our students and teachers,” said Eisner. “Throughout this crisis, they have continued to bring their best selves to the classroom each and every day. They are truly ‘all in’ for our schools, and it’s exciting to see our community stepping up to demonstrate that we are ‘all in’ too.”