Board Members Committees Meeting Minutes Help Your School Endowment Fund Newsletter Archive

President	Tony Estrada
Vice President/ President-elect	Cathy Cramer
Secretary	Kim Hughes
Treasurer	Janie Stephens
Historian	Anne Marie Ocasio
Staff Represetatives	Amy Kinkade
	Ruthann Rushing
	Diana McMillian

Mathews enjoys strong parent participation in the PTA. Dates and times of PTA meetings are listed on the school calendar. To contact a PTA officer, leave a message in the PTA mailbox in the main office.

For a detail description of the duties and responsibilities of the PTA offices, see this PDF document.

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Here are a few, easy, "passive" fundraising opportunities for Mathews which don't involve you or your children having to sell, feel-guilty-about, or buy candy/cookie-dough/candles/wrapping paper/tinned popcorn/etc/etc/etc!! If you have any questions about the programs listed below, please contact Leslee Perez (Fundraising Chair)

Additionally, if you finding other creative ways to help fund classroom projects, supplemental learning activities, heritage celebrations, etc. at Mathews, please contact Leslee Perez (Fundraising Chair) or Tony Estrada (PTA President)

Used Children's Books

Mathews has teamed up with Reach Out and Read Program to collect gently used children's books that will be placed in all of the Austin Rural Health Clinics. The books benefit young children ages 6 months to 5 years of age and help improve literacy in our community and Mathews gets 25 cents per usable book!

Box Tops

Every time you buy a General Mills food item, clip and save your "Box Tops For Education" coupon, bring them to Mathews and deposit them in the box located in the Parent Center (down the hall from the gym). These are found on General Mills products, including cereals, and Cascadian Farm cereals, as well as Ziploc bags and other products. Mathews gets 10¢ for each label! For more info on products with labels, see http://www.boxtops4education.com.

This is a really easy fundraiser. We got $80 this fall and $80 more is headed our way soon. Thanks to the families that brought in box tops! Ruthann Rushing reports that her daughter's school in San Antonio, which is a small school similar to Mathews, recently got a check for $3000 from collecting these! Please bring in your Box Tops!

Used Printer Cartridges and Cell Phones

Recycle your inkjet and laser cartridges and cell phones at Mathews and we get money! There is a box for cartridges and phones in the Parent Center . We are registered with Funding Factory to recycle these things. We almost have enough to box up and send off the first batch. Please bring more! For a detailed list of what brands they accept, go to: http://www.fundingfactory.com and click on "qualifying lists" at the top right, in the blue header bar.

Randall's Grocery Stores

If you designate Mathews Elementary, every time you use your Randall's Remarkable card, 1% of your purchases will be donated to Mathews. What you need to do: Get an application card and designate Mathews as the beneficiary and include Code 8136 (or change your existing code to designate Mathews).

Target

When you use your Target credit card at Target stores or Target.com, 1% will be returned to Mathews. Purchases with the Target credit card anywhere other than Target will return ½% to Mathews. What you need to do: Designated Mathews as the beneficiary school by School ID # 96104. As of August 2005, Target has donated $1254 to Mathews. Thanks Target!

Soup Peddler

Go to www.souppeddler.com/mathewsPTA and purchase any soup. The Soup Peddler will return 5% to Mathews PTA. Thank you Soup Peddler!

The Mathews Elementary Excellence fund was established in August 2005 as a sustainable way to support Mathews programs. People invest in the future of our school by donating to the fund with the knowledge that the principal (donated funds) will remain untouched, while interest accumulates and can be withdrawn annually. A committee will be selected to meet once a year and consider whether to withdraw accumulated interest and how to use it. Please consider donating to the fund. You can do so by making a check out to:

  Austin Community Foundation, Mathews Elementary Excellence Fund.
  Mail to the ACF, P.O. Box 5159, Austin, TX 78763

Also, you can make a donation using a credit card directly at the Austin Community Foundation website
NOTE: Please make sure that the category selected is the 'Mathews Fund for Excellence'.

Following is a list of contributors to the fund between August 2005 and March 2006:

• Mathews PTA
• Janell Buchanan and Ted Siff
• George Eckrich and Liliana Valenzuela
• Suzanne Bryant
• Charles and Betti Saunders Foundation
• Ruthann and Roy Rushing

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