2021 in Review

As we head into the new year, we look back at some of the unique challenges that 2021 brought to education, and how the Kloiber Foundation helped.

Teacher Outreach Program

Due to the school closures that COVID made necessary, students everywhere have experienced learning loss to one degree or another. While teachers and administrators made heroic efforts to keep students engaged and learning, there are some factors that cannot be addressed by schools alone. Now that students are back in school for the most part, schools all over are doing their best to address the new and more profound needs of the students. To help with this, our Teacher Outreach Program provided 58 teachers across 5 schools in Fayette County with over $21,000 in supplies for their classrooms. They most frequently requested books, as many of their students were not reading on grade level and needed some extra support. Teachers have always been an inspiration, and it will be amazing to see how instrumental their herculean efforts will be this year.

YMCA Power Scholars

The YMCA of Central Kentucky has an amazing program called Power Scholars, which served 630 students this summer. It is a program that helps keep kids engaged in their education, as well as gives them a place to explore and have fun during the summer. It is designed to help students gain new academic skills, strengthen their literacy and math skills, and stay on track so they can enter school in the Fall ready to succeed. This program has proven to be essential in our community, and never so much as the past year as families are still feeling the effects of COVID on education.

Cinco de Y-O

In June, we partnered with the Whitaker YMCA to bring a family field day to the community. Everyone was ready to be back together, and our second Cinco de Y-O created the opportunity for families to engage in field day events, enjoy inflatables and the splash pad, and eat at some of the best food trucks in town. We had a fantastic turnout, and look forward to next year!

Music Classroom at Dixie

During our partnership with Dixie Magnet Elementary through the Teacher Outreach Program, we learned that their music classroom was in serious need. Their music teacher, Crystal Peters, was so passionate about introducing different types of musical instruments to her students that we decided to provide her with a classroom full of instruments! She had already started a steel drum band, and we helped make it possible for more students to join. Now that her students are back in the classroom, they have all been enjoying playing the instruments and learning from her fantastic lessons.

100K Step Day

Our president David Kloiber knows that communities love to rally behind people doing amazing (or crazy) things to raise money for a great cause. With that in mind, he pledged to walk 100,000 steps in ONE DAY to bring awareness to the YMCA’s out of school programs. Other individuals and teams also signed up to walk, and we had a great day full of special guests, as well as some yummy snacks from Feel Good Nutrition. After walking for an incredible 18 hours, he raised over $20,000 for the YMCA, which will ensure that no child is turned away from their out of school programs due to cost. We hope to see you at our event next year – how many steps will you walk? 

Believing in Forever Coat Drive

Believing in Forever, led by Devine Carama, has hosted A Coat To Keep The Cold Away coat drive for the past 8 years. The program provides new coats to children all over the state, and this year he had over 3,000 requests. The Kloiber Foundation was proud to partner with Devine this year in helping ensure children all over Kentucky stay warm this winter.

2021 was another challenging year, but we look forward to 2022 and the ways we can help the community through partnerships and collaborations.