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Brownies chip in cookie proceeds to CORE
Campaign at 46 percent of its goal

by Glenn Wohltmann

If you bought a box of cookies from the Vintage Hills Brownies this year, you helped support the Community OutReach for Education (CORE) campaign.

Every year, Troop 32920 gives away a third of the money it raises selling cookies to a good cause. The Brownies -- 16 in all -- were given the opportunity to choose from a number of charities, and it came down to two choices: the Humane Society or CORE.

After some debate among the 8-year-olds, they chose to give their donation of $150 from selling 1,345 boxes of cookies to CORE, and began chanting, "Save our teachers!"

"They took it to heart and we're very proud of them," said Patricia Kang, mother of one of the Brownies, Taylor. To CORE, $150 may be a drop in the bucket, but to Taylor, it's a lot.

"We want more teachers and more opportunities to do things," the Vintage Hills second grader said. "We are giving our CORE so much money."

Pleasanton Partnerships In Education (PPIE) spokeswoman Debi Covello called the kids' donation "incredible."

"I think it speaks to what Pleasanton is all about," Covello said. "I think the campaign has really brought the community together. The kids have really embraced the need."

Covello said the latest CORE "Drop and Donate" day raised another $50,000, bringing the total raised to $442,348, about 46 percent of its goal. That's not counting the Brownies' $150 donation.

Elementary schools have brought in $258,752. That puts them at 64 percent of their target of $399,375. This latest money raised has bumped elementary schools to their next level of funding: three hours tech support and two hours additional library per day per site.

Currently, middle schools have raised $84,028, about 36 percent of their goal. That's enough to provide middle schools two-and-a-half hours additional for library assistants and two hours tech support per day per site. If middle schools can reach $92,813, that will pay for three hours of tech support per day per site.

High schools have raised $89,185, or 27 percent of their target. If their fundraising tops $100,000, Amador Valley and Foothill will each get $45,000 for technology support, and Village will receive $10,000; if less than $100,000 is raised, the high schools will decide for themselves where the money will be spent.

There are some last-minute efforts to boost the totals. A coupon book for downtown merchants will be available this week at $10 apiece. They can be bought at schools or though the PPIE website.

Covello said it's too early to tell whether the campaign will reach its goals.

"It's hard to predict. Last summer, when we did the 'I Love Pleasanton' campaign, the last week we saw a flood of donations," she said. "Folks just kind of wait until the last minute. We're hoping we're going to challenge the overall number."

Covello added that if schools are close to reaching their next goal, "We may kind of give it a last-minute push."