That figure equates to 1 in 80 students at Fort Bend ISD being homeless.
"Texas identified 111,177 homeless students in the school year 2016–17. Homeless students made up 2.1% of total enrollment," according to the Institute of Children and Poverty Homelessness.
The FBEF fights to minimize obstacles for local students. The foundation's effort aims to give students a genuine opportunity to achieve quality education and ultimately to help every student who does not have the basic necessities needed to succeed, Cosby said.
The FBEF regularly holds fundraising events that garner hundreds of thousands of dollars for educators and students in need throughout FBISD.
Cosby said the foundation holds fundraisers annually. The foundation will host an upcoming golf tournament Sept. 10 and its annual charity "shindig" party. However, the FBEF's largest fundraising event, its annual gala, raised over $520,000 last year, Cosby said.
“We have a school site grants where elementary schools can ask for up to $2,000; higher secondary schools can ask for up to $5,000. We also have a founder's grant program where a school can ask for a bigger program for up to $20,000 from the foundation. Last year we gave away in all of our programs about $775,000,” Cosby said.
The funds raised by the FBEF benefit a variety of different students and programs. One example Cosby provided was the construction of sign language signs throughout the playground of a school with a heavy concentration of hearing-impaired children.
“[The signs] helped with the hearing-impaired children on their campus, obviously, but it also helped all students learn a language that is very much used and useful in this nation,” Cosby said.
The FBEF also ran an independent initiative to deliver over 1,000 backpacks to homeless students that included school supplies, jackets and rain tarps, according to the foundation.
“It takes a community to build this successful foundation that we have today, and for that we are grateful, always grateful to all of our volunteers and donors and supporters that have made this foundation as impactful as it is today,” Cosby said.
