Chamber Education Foundation Launches ‘Links Project’

Links-ProjectContinuing its mission of supporting education on Miami Beach, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) has launched its Links Project, an initiative with the goal of raising $100,000 teacher grants. The Foundation has been supporting education in our community since its inception on August 2nd, 2000. It has focused primarily on providing college scholarships for graduating seniors from Miami Beach Sr. High School and funding for teacher training in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The Links Project will provide teacher grants ranging from $300-$1,000 which will be designed to provide the necessary supplies to teachers throughout the entire Miami Beach School feeder pattern (8 public schools).

“Miami Beach has some of the best public schools in the county and my goal is to keep it that way,” said Chamber President and CEO Jerry Libbin. “The money raised will pay for the supplies needed to implement new programs within a teacher’s classroom. This will afford our students the opportunity to take full advantage of the creativity of our teachers but don’t have the funds for start-up costs.”

The Foundation will sell paper links that will be held by students and members of the business community that will stretch for the entire 2,000 foot length between the Chamber of Commerce building, which will represent the businesses, and Miami Beach Senior High School, which will represent education. Once the links have all been purchased, Dade Blvd. will be closed and the students from the high school will stand shoulder to shoulder with members of the business community as we make the physical connection of the business community with education represented by the paper links. “Our objective for the Links Project is to fund 24 teacher grants per year or three at each of our 8 schools,” said Libbin. The Foundation and Florida Power & Light sponsor the Elayne Weisburd Excellence in Education luncheon to honor the Miami Beach “Teacher of the Year.” Additionally, the Foundation has been responsible for establishing and funding a healthcare initiative in three Miami Beach feeder pattern schools thanks to the unprecedented collaboration of five municipalities and more than a dozen organizations that fund the initiative. Students at Ruth K. Broad K-8 Center, North Beach Elementary and Treasure Island Elementary schools have access to a nurse for both this year and the 2014 – 2015 school year. To date almost $500,000 has been raised in both cash and in-kind contributions.

For more information on the Miami Beach Chamber Education Foundation or to donate to the “Links Project,” visit www.miamibeachchamber.com or contact Danny Diaz at 305-674-1300.


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