Community Corner

'Educate Rancho' Will Raise Money for Schools This Week

Local businesses will donate 20 percent of sales to schools if consumers mention the Educate Rancho fundraiser.

The way Jim Riskas figured it, lots of people talk about the importance of education, but when school programs get cut or teachers lose their jobs, he says, it sends a mixed message to the students that everyone claims to care so much about.

So Riskas and other local business owners who created the Educate Rancho fund will donate 20 percent of their sales proceeds this week to help local schools.

Riskas—owner of the —Dave Hanna of , and Jim Poettgen of created the Educate Rancho nonprofit a year ago. They separately worked toward making a contribution to elementary schools Robinson, Cielo Vista and Arroyo Vista, but this year they have pooled their resources into a weeklong effort. 

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They would love to have more businesses involved.

"I think it's really important, in the type of economy we have now, for the community to know there's support within the community," said Riskas, owner of the Chevron gas station at the corner of Buena Suerte and Santa Margarita Parkway where the car wash is located. "It's important for those parents to have a group that they can point to who say education is important and mean it. Everyone says that education is so important. If education is so important, how can you tell an 8-year-old there's no money for an after-school reading program, or when you drop a kid off and you see a teacher who's been laid off?

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"I've never lived in Rancho,  and my kids are out of college. I'm not doing this to do something for my kids, but I do believe in community and that if you're a business like mine or Dave's or Jim's, you need to be a part of that fabric."

Consumers just need to mention Educate Rancho to trigger the donation. At the car wash, the offer applies only to the car wash, not for any fuel or other items purchased.

The funds are earmarked toward needs of each school after Riskas interviews local principals to get a wish list. So far, Educate Rancho has helped fund extended learning programs for at-risk students who need tutoring at lunch or after school; the money pays for the teachers. They have also purchased software for schools to facilitate reading and math programs.

Earlier this school year, Las Flores and Tijeras Creek elementary schools received funds.

The important thing, Poettgen said, is that "we're not buying lightbulbs" and that the business owners can fund programs they are passionate about, particularly in reading and math.

"We made it clear to the principals that our mission is to do the things that fall through the cracks after the PTA has given all they can give and everyone is squeezed dry," Riskas said.

They donated about $15,000 last year, and obviously hope for more this year.

"I got so upset about teachers outside waving their pink slips," Riskas said. "All this stuff happened on our watch. We’ve been voting for 40 years, now our state and federal government are so screwed up and the people paying the price are the little kids. If we don’t do something about it, who is?

"If we wait for the government to do it, the 8-year-old is going to be a disenfranchised 15-year-old who can't read or write. We voted for those guys. It's up to us to do something about it."


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