MCA’s board has voted to purchase a set of playground equipment and will place it next to the pre-K building next to the fence for students to use. Since this is an expense that is not included in the budget, we are asking our school community to make contributions to cover the expense. Contributions to the school are tax deductible.
After listening to feedback from our parents, we decided to drop the candy sale we used to have in order to raise money for projects outside the budget. This raised from $7,000 to $10,000 for various needs of the school not included in the budget and funded by tuition. But parents got tired of selling candy, or winding up buying boxes of chocolate to meet the sales goal.
So this past year we decided to ask each family for a contribution to cover the projects from 2022-23, which included renovating the art room to make it more practical to teach that subject, and replacing baseboards and fixtures in the main building that were experiencing wear and tear. The cost for this was just over $18,000 and comes out to about $200 per family. We had decided to follow the practice of some other private schools and call that a “fundraising fee” as a means of opting out of candy sales. But we did not get a good response from our families when we announced this last October.
Playground is a Long Time Need
Having playground equipment for our students has been a need for a long time. Our land-locked location doesn’t leave any room for us to have much playground space when it must be shared with the church for parking. We have measured out space for a very nice piece of multiple-activity playground equipment that, with installation, will run about $45,000. This is also money we must raise because our budget does not include that kind of expense. Based on our current enrollment, the cost is about $225 per student.
We have had some designated contributions come in for the playground, so the amount we need to raise is an additional $15,000. We must also finish paying off last year’s fundraising project, so both of these needs together comes to about $30,000.
We would like to ask our school families to provide this amount through your contributions. A large share of your child’s education at MCA is covered by the generosity of others who give to our school regularly. Midwest Bible Church has given over $400,000 over the past few years to finance the renovation of our facilities. The gym renovation project was covered by contributions which came from outside the school community, and included donors like the Gies Foundation, who gave $150,000. Your children benefit every day from these contributions. Your tuition bill, one of the lowest among private schools in the city of Chicago, reflects an amount kept low for you by people who donate to the school. So to complete this project, we would like to ask our parents to return a little of the blessing.
Of course, we can always go back to candy sales, but more than half of that amount goes to the company’s profit which provides the candy. It seems to be an easier way to just ask for the money and leave the prompting up to God.
You can contribute by the same means which you pay your tuition. Just make a note when you send your payment that it is a contribution for the playground or for the art room. We are not asking for a specific amount, but that you give whatever the Lord lays on your heart. It is all invested back into the school and benefits your children. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
COUGAR TRACKS 
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