Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia

Mission Statement–to provide children from low-income Philadelphia families with financial access to quality, safe, K-8th grade, tuition-based schools, thereby increasing their long-term economic and social success. CSFP grants need-based scholarships to children from low-income Philadelphia families, all of which are awarded by random lottery. CSFP currently serves about 5,200 children enrolled at over 170 private and parochial schools.

I first learned about Children’s Scholarship Fund last year when I was invited to their annual Crystal Ball Gala. Granted, I have no children of my own so scholarships weren’t on my radar but none the less I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of the organization prior to that night. When I was a child, my mother saw to it that I receive a private school education but it wasn’t easy and she had to FIGHT to learn about scholarships (pre-internet) because without those scholarships I wouldn’t have been able to attend. I understand first hand how important these scholarships are. My first volunteer experience with CSFP was participating in “Lottery Day” where volunteers called parents to let them know their children received a scholarship. I loved it. There is nothing better than giving people GOOD news. The parents were so happy and more than one told me that they stumbled across the scholarship fund by accident. So imagine all of the families who don’t know that this fantastic organization exists! It was there that I met Christanne Clymer who is the Senior Development Manager at CSFP. Her enthusiasm and spirit is infectious. She invited me to the next volunteer effort which consisted of assisting the staff with canvassing the Brewerytown neighborhood (my hood) to help spread the word by handing out flyers and brochures to residents and store owners. Most recently, I was invited to participate in Career Day at Gesu School in North Philadelphia, which you can read more about here. I hope to continue helping CSFP in any way I can and if you are interested in learning more about the organization and how you can help please go to https://www.csfphiladelphia.org. Spread the word!