*Please donate by Venmo (@parentscommunitypreschool) or mail to avoid the transaction fee if possible. These donations will still be included in the amount raised tracker up here.

Parents’ Community Preschool (PCP) was the first ever nonprofit preschool started in Wilmington, NC. For 45 years now, Parents’ Community Preschool (PCP) has tirelessly worked to serve the community of Wilmington and the hundreds of students who have walked through our doors.

Since its inception in 1978, PCP has joined existing and/or created new service projects and charitable donations that positively impact our local community. We believe wholeheartedly in the importance of giving back. Not only does service teach our students a variety of valuable life skills, but it also cultivates character and values, and ultimately, it offers our students and their families opportunities to carry compassion, kindness, and connection into communities for future generations. Upon joining PCP, our families commit to at least two service projects each year. Just this fall, our school was able to donate 2300 lbs. of fresh produce to Nourish NC, a local nonprofit that works to make healthy food available to young people in our community who are facing hunger. In addition, our families work with the Foster Pantry and other local organizations to actively make community service a priority.

PCP is also proud of the work we do daily with our students to help them and our families be stewards for the Earth. This year, we were recognized as an Ocean Friendly Establishment (OFE) by the Plastic Ocean Project, Inc., which is dedicated to the protection of human and environmental health by mitigating the plastic pollution crisis. Our families believe in empowering everyone to make more scientifically-informed choices for their health, the environment, and our future.

To understand more about who we are today, it’s important to understand the history of our preschool. PCP has a humble origin and a rich past. In 1978, a group of families came together with the spirit of cooperation in their hearts and an ambitious goal in mind to create PCP. The idea was to create a preschool that defied the typical, profit-driven preschool model with a simple, child-oriented environment that not only encouraged parental involvement, but required it. In fact, the small groups of families that attend PCP are the administrators, groundskeepers, board members, and custodians that keep our school up and running. This idea of a parent-run, kid-inspired preschool is one that continues to engage new families every year; it has grown quietly over the years with the hard work of our families and teachers and the help of advocates in the community. The result of these efforts is a cheerful, multi-colored schoolhouse on Wrightsville Avenue. Each school day children’s stories and laughter can be heard resonating through the halls of our 1940s schoolhouse, and in our nature-inspired outdoor learning environment.

Our teachers provide a child-led emergent curriculum that takes inspiration from the Reggio Emilia philosophy, Montessori, and other non-traditional preschool approaches. This approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments.

PCP is the only nonprofit parent-cooperative preschool for children in Wilmington. As a nonprofit school, PCP operates solely on enrollment fees and fundraising. We work diligently as a school and board to make enrollment costs affordable so that the experience of our school is accessible to more children and their families. In addition to the fundraisers each year to raise money for the daily operation and maintenance of our school, the school depends on donations from family, friends, and community businesses. People like you!

Each year, our board sets a "big task" to be accomplished in the upcoming year. In previous years, we have painted the schoolhouse, replaced the schoolyard fence, and improved the grounds. This year, the kids are severely in need of a safe and updated playground. In 2018, we lost a large branch of our oak tree during Hurricane Florence. Parents repurposed the massive branch and turned it into a play structure in our backyard. It has been nearly 5 years since the hurricane, and teachers and families have agreed that it is time to remove the deteriorating branch and upgrade to safer playground equipment.

The reason we are coming to you is to request funding to build that safe and updated playground for the school. This donation would provide safe, fun, and developmentally appropriate equipment for dozens of current children and hundreds more in the future. PCP has developed a budget of $16,172 to procure the needed playground equipment including climbing, balancing, and nature-based imaginative play equipment. The equipment would be procured from environmentally responsible companies. Parents’ Community Preschool would like to build a sustainable and low carbon footprint playground to align with the preschool’s environmental health values. Our research has found the company KOMPAN uses recycled and reclaimed materials to provide beautiful playgrounds from safe, sustainable materials.

We would be honored to include volunteers from your company and showcase your contributions to the playground on a fun opening day. As part of our gratitude for your contribution, we have the following sponsorship benefits we would love to offer:

Full Sponsorship: The playground can be named for you/your company with a sign erected to denote the contribution made towards the successful project as well as an acknowledgement on our website and social media pages.
$750 or More Sponsorship: Your name or company name will be included in a gratitude plaque posted in the school’s office as well as our social media pages.
$1 or More: Your name will be included in a social media post across both our public Facebook page and private Facebook members/alumni group.

Our families and our students sincerely appreciate your consideration in supporting our local nonprofit preschool. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, and thank you so much for your time.

Email: Pcpwilmingtonnc@gmail.com

Playground for Parents' Community Preschool

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