Educational Enrichment Foundation

This week, Sam, our Programs Coordinator, had the opportunity to attend TUSD's New Teacher Induction! 🍎✨

Sam loved meeting so many new educators, sharing all that EEF has to offer, and welcoming them to the district. We can't wait to support these incredible teachers throughout the school year and are excited for everything this new year will bring!

Help us give students and teachers the strongest start possible by donating to our Back-to-School Campaign. Your gift supports essential resources and opportunities that help every student succeed.

Donate today! 🍏💚
https://buff.ly/djhLGEr

📚✨ A new school year brings new possibilities.

Every student deserves to walk into the classroom with the confidence, resources, and opportunities they need to succeed. This back-to-school season, you can help make that happen for TUSD students.

Now through September 4, every gift to Educational Enrichment Foundation's Back-to-School Campaign will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous $25,000 matching gift.

Together, we can help students start the year ready to learn, grow, and thrive. 🍏

Donate today and double your impact: eeftucson.org

Join us in celebrating Sallie on her 5-year workiversary with the Educational Enrichment Foundation! 🎉

For the past five years, Sallie has been the heart of our office — bringing laughter, dedication, and a commitment to supporting our students, schools, donors, and community. Her hard work, positive spirit, and willingness to help wherever she's needed make EEF a better place every single day.

Please help us congratulate Sallie and thank her for five wonderful years of EEF! 💚✨

Meet our Board Members! 🍏

This month, we're excited to spotlight our new Board President, Helen Gomez! 💚
A former TUSD high school English teacher and longtime nonprofit leader, Helen brings a passion for storytelling, community connection, and helping others thrive. Her firsthand experience in the classroom gives her a deep appreciation for the incredible work TUSD educators do every day.

Helen's favorite EEF initiative is our Classroom Grants. She loves seeing teachers' creative ideas come to life and believes that investing in educators creates meaningful opportunities for students to learn, grow, and succeed.

One of Helen's proudest moments as a board member has been watching this board come together to support EEF's continued growth, investing in strong leadership and working collaboratively to ensure our organization can make an even greater impact for TUSD students and educators.

Thank you, Helen, for your thoughtful leadership, collaborative spirit, and unwavering commitment to creating brighter futures for TUSD students, educators, and families. We are so grateful to have you leading our board! ✨

Last week, our Executive Director had the pleasure of sharing lunch with some of EEF's longtime champions, our "Friends of EEF." 💚

This incredible group includes former Executive Directors, past Board Members, and dedicated community leaders who have helped shape the Educational Enrichment Foundation over the years.

Their passion, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to Tucson Unified students continue to inspire our work. We are deeply grateful for the foundation they built and for their continued support as we look toward the future. Thank you, Pam, Teresa, Kathy, Sally, and Elaine, for your years of leadership, friendship, and dedication to EEF!

A special thank you to our friends at UA School Garden Workshop for hosting us at Sprouts House and providing the perfect space to reconnect and celebrate EEF's community of supporters. 🍏

📣 We want to hear from you!

Whether you're a TUSD parent, educator, student, donor, volunteer, community partner, loyal social media follower, or community member, your voice matters.

We're still collecting responses for our anonymous EEF Stakeholder Survey, and your feedback will help shape the future of the Educational Enrichment Foundation as we continue serving Tucson Unified students and schools.

🗓️ Please complete the survey by July 31!

🔗 https://forms.gle/mQ3ez7MZnauUVnYk8

Thank you for taking a few minutes to share your thoughts and help us build an even stronger future for our students and community. 💚🍏

Building strong partnerships starts with great conversations! 🍏

We had the pleasure of meeting with Tucson Ward 5 Council Member Selina Barajas and her team to explore ways we can work together to support Tucson Unified schools and students in her ward. We’re grateful for the opportunity to connect and are excited about the possibilities ahead.

Together, we can create even more opportunities for students to learn, grow, and thrive!

Save the Date! 📅

Join us on Thursday, October 22, 2026 for the 27th Annual Ray Davies Lifetime Humanitarian Award Luncheon as we honor Dr. Alfredo “Dr. V” Valenzuela for his extraordinary commitment to education, students, and our Tucson community.

Sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available now!
Visit eeftucson.org/davies (link in bio) to learn more and get your tickets.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Save the Date! 📅

Join us on Thursday, October 22, 2026 for the 27th Annual Ray Davies Lifetime Humanitarian Award Luncheon as we honor Dr. Alfredo "Dr. V" Valenzuela for his extraordinary commitment to education, students, and our Tucson community.

Sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available now!
Visit eeftucson.org/davies to learn more and get your tickets.

We can't wait to celebrate with you!

We're so grateful to our friends at Safeway Foundation for once again investing in Tucson Unified students and schools!

It was an honor to attend the ribbon cutting celebration for the beautifully renovated Safeway store at Swan & Sunrise and celebrate their continued commitment to public education and other nonprofits!

Through their generosity, the following TUSD schools each received a $2,000 grant to support students and classrooms:

🍏 Cragin Elementary
🍏 Davidson Elementary
🍏 Doolen Middle
🍏 Whitmore Elementary
🍏 Blenman Elementary
🍏 John B. Wright Elementary
🍏 Dodge Traditional Magnet Middle
🍏 Mary Meredith K-12
🍏 Catalina High School

In addition, Safeway Foundation provided support to Catalina High School's Band, Cheer, and Wrestling programs.

Thank you, Safeway Foundation, for being such an incredible partner and for helping create more opportunities for Tucson Unified students. We are proud to work alongside organizations that believe in investing in our community's future!