The Blue Rose Foundation believes that equal access to resources starts children on an early pathway to success, and strengthens our families and communities. By awarding preschool scholarships to children from economically disadvantaged families, we foster a life-long love of learning and provide the children with the tools to reach their full potential.
About the Foundation
The Blue Rose Foundation was created to honor the memories of our family members, friends, teachers, and mentors. To pay tribute to those who inspired us, we support programs that give children the ability to reach new heights of success. Reaching at-risk children early is crucial to this success. Nobel Prize winning Professor of Economics James Heckman has demonstrated that investing in pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children provides a significant return on investment to society, improving literacy, high school graduation and employment rates, and reducing delinquency and violence.
In Sonoma County, where Blue Rose Foundation’s efforts are concentrated, approximately 15% of children live below the poverty line. Low-cost and free preschool programs are available for families in need, but demand far exceeds the supply—in 2011, there were over 100 more eligible children five years of age and younger than there were available spaces in subsidized care programs. We aim to close that gap.
In 2014 and 2015 we partnered with the Old Adobe School in Sonoma to raise scholarship funds at the Blue Rose Ball. Both years, the Ball was a success. In 2016 we also joined with the Castle Preschool of Sebastopol for a sold out fundraiser. To date, the Blue Rose Foundation has raised over $150,000 in preschool scholarships for financially disadvantaged children.
