Melissa Abril-Dotel's Drive for Student Success

As a 2nd grade teacher, I see every day how empowering young minds can change the future. I give to The Education Fund to support students and teachers in our community, ensuring they have the resources to dream big, learn deeply, and succeed.

Since 1984, The Education Fund has had one mission – to maximize every child’s potential. We believe that the health of a community begins with the quality of its public schools. By raising student achievement, particularly for children from financially disadvantaged homes, we raise hopes and improve futures for entire families. We focus on the challenges facing public schools in Miami-Dade County, the third-largest district in the U.S. and declared 100% free lunch by the USDA. The Education Fund maneuvers easily and works closely with teachers, administrators, parents, and community/business leaders to implement programs that reach all 470+ schools, 20,000+ educators, and 336,500+ students.

 OUR SUCCESSES INCLUDE:

* Providing 287,000+ students/families in the 2024-2025 school year with $3.3 million+ in school supplies (paper, books, pens, crayons, etc.) and household basics (paper products; hygiene supplies) 

* Supporting a 71% improvement in students’ science achievement and STEM proficiency and 75% improvement in students’ math performance, all while improving eating attitudes and habits by 50% through our first-in-the-nation Food Forests for Schools 

 * Providing 6,000+ students in all 30 Food Forest model schools with new resiliency lessons in these outdoor classrooms

* Increasing college enrollment by 34% in high-need demonstration schools as one of three nonprofits selected nationally, through our SmartPath program 

* Receiving The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce NOVO (nonprofit excellence) Award for our Center for Educational Materials program through which $23,959,564 in free supplies have gone to students and their classrooms since Hurricane Andrew 

* Bridging the digital divide for 10,000+ families by providing each child with a home computer and training for all their parents 

* Raising more than $86+ million in order to transform our public schools!