At the September 15, 2010 Board of Education meeting, Teresia McCollister, R.N., Chairperson of the Children's Service Fund, presented Greg Christian, Executive Director of Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Fontana and Ontario Vineyard Medical Centers), with a certificate of appreciation.  Kaiser Permanente recently awarded the Children's Service fund with a grant donation of $15,000 for the immediate dental and medical needs of FUSD students.

The Children's Service Fund of Fontana Unified School District was formed back in 1989 to provide dental care, food, medical care, clothing, and other life essentials for district students with such needs.  Contributions come from employees of the district with 100% of the money going to these students.  Volunteers staff the board that manage the funds and it is a non-profit organization.

"It's great to be able to partner with Children's Service Fund," said Mr. Christian.  "Since 2006, we've been able to donate about $110,000 to the district and this is a great cause that we will continue to support.  It is very meaningful work that is being done."

The donation from Kaiser Permanente comes at a critical time for the Children's Service Fund in which it finds itself with declining financial support from private donors.  Mrs. McCollister said that monthly donations are down by nearly 50% over the last two years.

Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks and the Board of Education thanked Mr. Christian for Kaiser's donation.  "A lot of FUSD employees do monthly donations through payroll deductions, so while we are thanking Kaiser for their large donation, I also want to thank employees for their smaller donations.  It adds up," said Mrs. Olsen.

(Pictured above:  Greg Christian from Kaiser Permanente; Teresia McCollister, R.N. and Anna Watts of Fontana Unified School District and Children's Service Fund.)