VIERA, FL – Brevard Schools Foundation (BSF) is pleased to announce the Palaniyandi family has donated a gift of $200,000 through their family foundation, AMBAL Inc. The gift was announced at the recent Champions for Education luncheon and included a $50,000 matching challenge to donors in attendance. The matching challenge helped bring in an additional $102,171 for Brevard Schools Foundation.
From left: Brevard Schools Foundation Board members Johnathan Wilkes, Jim Clamons, Kyle Nylander, donor Ambika Ravindran, BSF President & CEO Janice Kershaw, and BSF Board members Mike LaFortune, and Cordell Rolle
Education is a cause close to the heart of Ambika Ravindran and Dr. Ravi Palaniyandi, who previously gave a $100,001 gift in honor of the family patriarch, Pillai Palaniyandi’s 103rd birthday in 2018. The family and the foundation have chosen to expand their giving this year to challenge others to support the Champions for Education program, an unrestricted fund supporting all the BSF programs including the Supply Zone for Teachers, Take Stock in Children, senior scholarships, Bright Ideas Classroom grants as well as teacher development programs.
Their support of the Supply Zone for Teachers, a resource center that provides free school supplies to high-poverty schools, has been ongoing and with this gift expands to grow the hygiene supplies aspect of the program, especially for the 1,500 students-in-transition.
Finally, the gift will also support the efforts of BSF to further develop, strengthen and encourage educators in Brevard Public Schools. The gift helps fund the TLC Fellowship Program, a new initiative of Brevard Schools Foundation that provides a select group of teachers with support and resources to make an impact on student achievement by conducting action research. Teachers who successfully complete the Fellowship receive an honorarium.
“We have been long-time supporters of the work of Brevard Schools Foundation,” said Ambika Ravindran. “We have seen the need grow here in Brevard County, and we also know how hard it is for teachers to try to supply their students with materials when they themselves are struggling to pay their own bills.” In addition to supplying under-resourced schools and students with materials and school supplies, the gift will also be used to help ensure hygiene kits are available to students who need them most. As a mother to three daughters and six granddaughters, Ravindran has made it her personal mission to help ensure students in need of feminine hygiene products do not experience “period poverty.” She continued, “when everyone gives something, together we can change lives for students and teachers in our community.”
“We’re overwhelmed by this generous gift in support of so many of our programs,” said Janice Kershaw, President & CEO of Brevard Schools Foundation. “It encourages our other friends and community members to join Ambika and her family in our mission. It also allows to expand our programs to meet the growing needs of our students and teachers.”