Florida Citrus Sports and College Football Playoff Foundation Team Up to Fund $10K in Classroom Projects at Clay Springs Elementary
APOPKA, Florida (Friday, Nov. 10, 2023) — Florida Citrus Sports and the College Football Playoff Foundation have teamed up to provide Clay Springs Elementary with a $10,000 DonorsChoose flash funding grant to support classroom projects on the Orange County campus this school year.
Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan joined Orange County District 2 Commissioner Christine Moore, Orange County Public Schools District 7 Board Member Melissa Byrd, OCPS Chief of Staff Dr. Bridget Williams, Clay Springs principal Rebecca McDaid and several members of McDaid’s team to present a commemorative check on campus earlier this week. The grant is part of a $60,000 overall commitment to local schools announced at the Camping World Kickoff on Sept. 3.
“College football and college football’s postseason have always been invested in education, and I’m proud to say Orlando has tripled down on that,” said Hogan, Florida Citrus Sports’ CEO since 2006. “It’s important to start at the ground level and connect in a vascular way with schools all over our county. It’s what we should be doing.”
“It’s the little things that make a school and make a community,” added Commissioner Moore, whose district includes Clay Springs Elementary. “You never know what will grab a child’s attention and help them thrive and grow, and this funding could help turn a teacher’s project into an inspirational catalyst for learning. We appreciate Florida Citrus Sports and the CFP Foundation for making this opportunity possible.”
Since 2019, Florida Citrus Sports and the CFP Foundation have combined to support nearly 1,000 projects totaling more than $300,000 using the DonorsChoose platform, which vets each project, elicits matching donations and ships the funded resources directly to impacted classrooms. Earlier this fall, FCS also partnered with Extra Yard for Teachers to renovate the media center at Orange Center Elementary School.
“Support like this means so much,” said Byrd, who represents Clay Springs on the OCPS board. “Our teachers come to work every day with so much passion in their hearts and so many things they want to do, but funding is limited, as it always is with public schools. So, for them to be granted the opportunity to invest in programs they want to provide for their students, it’s a tremendous honor and gift.”
“As a school, we are here to partner with the community and partner with families to educate our students,” McDaid added. “The families are our students’ first and best teachers, but we are always grateful for the support of our community, because it really does take a village.”