Wells Fargo Donates $250,000 to Alameda County Schools

With East Bay schools facing unprecedented budget challenges, Wells Fargo is stepping up to lend a helping hand.

At a special gifting ceremony at the Alameda County Office of Education in Hayward on Friday, team members of the San Francisco-based bank presented educators from 13 school districts, including one from Santa Clara County, with a sum of $250,000 to help fund various educational needs and programs.

“I know that the contribution that we’re making is the right thing, and it will help many of the school districts go a long way in some of the programs that they need to support,” said Micky Randhawa, Wells Fargo’s East Bay Market Regional President.

All but one of the school districts or education foundations below received at least $10,000, with the Emery Ed Fund receiving $5,000.

• Alameda Education Foundation: $15,000
• Berkeley Public Education Foundation: $15,000
• Castro Valley Educational Foundation: $20,000
• Fremont Education Foundation: $40,000
• Hayward Education Foundation: $20,000
• Milpitas Community Education Endowment (MCEE): $20,000
• (Union City): $10,000
• Newark Unified School District: $20,000
• Oakland Schools Foundation (OSF): $50,000
• Piedmont Educational Foundation: $10,000
• San Leandro Education Foundation: $10,000
• San Lorenzo Unified School District: $15,000

“We’re fairly newly formed, so this is such a wonderful gift to get recognized,” said Deborah Cox, President of the San Leandro Education Foundation. “We’re going to be touching the lives of 8,800 kids.”

Added Bill Sonneman, Alameda Education Foundation’s president: “This will help us immensely in our community.”

All other educators present at Friday’s event agreed. During pre-ceremony gatherings, most were seen discussing budget cuts to California schools, a problem Jerry Brown has been tackling hard since taking over the governor’s post on Jan. 3.

Wells Fargo, Randhawa emphasized, is doing everything it can to ease the burden on school districts that have been hard hit by deep cuts to education. In all, the bank has donated more than $826,000 to support education across nine Northern California counties.

“This money whittles down the shortfall,” said Ed Mullens, immediate past president of the Hayward Education Foundation. “We had a lot of grants that we could not fund, and this represents a whittling of that down by one-third.”

During the gifting ceremony, representatives from each school district or education foundation were presented a check. They then shared a few thoughts—some in greater detail—on how the money will impact their district.

“In Newark, we’ve actually used these funds historically to support instrumental music in the elementary and middle schools, as well as [providing] opportunities for students to go to science camp because we have a hands-on science program,” said Newark Unified School District Superintendent Kevin Harrigan. “And all of our students for a week go to a hands-on science program, so we’re very grateful.”

Elsewhere, some donations to San Lorenzo Unified will go toward the city’s scholarship foundation. In the South Bay, according to MCEE President and CEO Robert Jung, funds awarded to Milpitas will help minimize budget cuts there. And in Oakland, according to OSF Executive Director Dan Quigley, the $50,000 awarded to his foundation will help staff raise money for the city’s schools. But he also revealed something more significant.

“For every dollar we get donated like this, we’re able to raise at least $5 for [Oakland] schools from other donors, foundations and elsewhere.”

But it’s not just Wells Fargo helping schools financially. In fact, Randhawa mentioned those who bank with Wells Fargo can also play an important role. He noted that every customer that refinances their mortgage with the bank has the ability for each mortgage to give $300 to a school of his or her choice.

“Can you imagine the population in Alameda County? And you see how many people refinance their mortgages?” asked Randhawa of Friday’s crowd. “The [donation] number just multiplies significantly.”

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