Alphabet Soup celebrates 25 years of supporting Petaluma education

Shoppers at Alphabet Soup, the pair of thrift stores on Western Avenue, might wonder why they see a tip jar at the register. The answer goes to the heart of the nonprofit enterprise, celebrating 25 years in business this year. The tips fund an annual $1,000 scholarship for a graduating senior from one of Petaluma’s seven high schools.

“The stores serve as the daily face of the Petaluma Education Foundation,” said PEF executive director Maureen Highland. Open seven days a week and staffed by about 80 volunteers, the stores-one offering clothing, the other housewares and home furnishings-raise money for the PEF mission of supporting local education.

One of the store’s long-time volunteers is Carol Isaak, who also serves on the PEF board. One of her tasks is to stock the used-book section of the store.

“As one of the volunteers, I love that we are helping PEF achieve its mission,” she said. “It’s fun to be here, and I enjoy my co-volunteers and the customers.”

Both Alphabet Soup stores are managed by Adrienne Kulasingam. Asked about unusual wares donated to the stores over the years, she smiled as she recalled an eleven-foot-long table with a glass top and teak legs.

“It was the coolest thing, gorgeous, but it took six men to move it,” she said. She further noted an ancient-looking statue of mother and child that has so intrigued her team that they have sent it to the anthropology department at UC Berkeley to see if it is pre-Columbian. And then there was the 20-piece dinnerware set by Russell Wright, a famed industrial designer.

“We often get extremely valuable things donated here,” Kulasingam said. The result is a win-win for shoppers, students and schools.

In addition to operating the stores, PEF raises funds from individuals, corporations, and foundations for grant and scholarship programs that support the 13,000 students in Petaluma’s 38 public, charter, and not-for-profit private schools, kindergarten through grade 12. The organization receives no public funding. In June, PEF will hold a beer-tasting fundraiser. The main fundraising event, the annual BASH Gala, will take place in September.

Established in 1982, PEF embodies the spirit of community. As the headquarters for a vast network of volunteers, donors, schools, teachers, individuals and businesses, it channels community interest in good schools into action. Its success is in the numbers-$3.4 million in grants since 1982, funding 1,721 projects, and $3.5 million in scholarships since 1990, lending a hand to 5,572 students.

Highland is the first to admit that a thousand-dollar scholarship won’t go far toward higher education these days. But she pointed out that the Thrift Store Scholarship is just one of 66 scholarship funds that PEF manages each year. Several of these funds are quite large, awarding from 50 to 100 scholarships a year. This year, awards went to 338 seniors for a total of $219,150.

That’s a lot of laptops.

“The scholarships acknowledge the efforts of students,” Highland said.

A singular feature of these awards is that they are tailored by their donors and sponsors to specific kinds of achievement and educational goals. For example, the Thrift Store Scholarship requires a minimum 3.0 grade point average and is for a student who plans a career in fashion or merchandising, or who has volunteered at the store and is headed for college or a trade or vocational school.

There are scholarships for students interested in careers in agriculture, the automotive industry, veterinary science, sports medicine and other fields. To apply for a scholarship, students fill out an online application on the PEF website.

Managing scholarships for graduating seniors is one-half of the PEF mission.

The other, managing grants for innovative classroom projects that fall outside school budgets, serves all of Petaluma’s students. In 2018, there were 23 grants totaling $238,471, reflecting the generous support of more than 200 donors, large and small. The projects are the brain-children of teachers who see an unmet need and devise a creative solution.

But why is this effort necessary?

California is a relatively rich state, with an education budget that tops $100 billion.

Despite this, for a variety of reasons California trails almost every other state in per-pupil funding. And a look at the projects receiving PEF grants reveals that the PEF mission is about much more than just money. It’s about helping students keep up with a changing world and prepare themselves to work and prosper in it.

For example, the United Anglers Petaluma Watershed project at Casa Grande High School is introducing students to vital environmental issues, with 130 students working in the school’s fully operational fish hatchery. They are helping to improve the riparian habitat of the watershed. Participants have the potential to receive a certificate that can lead to employment and mentorship opportunities.

Lights, Camera, Action! is a district-wide project providing digital video equipment kits with which students can produce short films and compose academic presentations.

Outdoor Learning in the Garden is a project at Two Rock Elementary in which 155 students learn where their food comes from, how to cultivate and harvest plants, and how to install planting beds. Projects at other schools delve into robotics, coding, digital photography and other cutting-edge areas.

Each project grant has a funding partner.

“I try to introduce potential donors to specific grants I feel fit their interests and philanthropic goals,” said Highland. “It helps engage them in investing in the program and foster academic opportunities for all students in the community.”

In addition to its many donors, PEF has three Partners for Education that pledge a $30,000 annually to support the mission-Petaluma Market, Clover Sonoma, and Petaluma Health Care District.

“We are very grateful for their partnership,” Highland said, “and are always looking to add more businesses to this program to help support education in this community.”