Posted on Dec 24, 2018 in
NEWSWORTHY
Trey Reichert, Brenna Cosby, Jerry Ulke and Haley Peck.
The three communities of Johnson Development Corp. served by FBISD have donated more than $25,000 to fund a broad wish list of items including iPads, specialty software and new library books. A request to fund additional crushed granite to help refurbish and improve the safety of a middle school running track was also awarded. Harvest Green, Imperial and Riverstone approved the grants funded through the communities’ foundation fees to purchase the gifts for their area schools. A foundation fee, which is a percentage of a home’s sale price, is collected each time a home sells or is resold in every one of Johnson Development’s seventeen communities. The reserve funds create a unique revenue stream that can fund projects to enhance a community’s infrastructure or to benefit outside organizations that directly impact a community.
“We are very committed to using foundation fees to help supplement the schools that educate our children,” said Trey Reichert, Vice-President and General Manager for Riverstone. “We can step in to help provide teachers with valuable resources when school budgets fall short.”
An appointed group of residents from each Johnson Development community comprise the “Your Community Foundation Committee (YCFC) and works with their homeowners associations to review grant requests. These recent grants were submitted by the Fort Bend Education Foundation (FBEF). Each year, FBISD teachers submit grant proposals to the FBEF to be reviewed and graded. The grants are awarded in order of their overall score.
“The Fort Bend Education Foundation is honored that Harvest Green, Imperial and Riverstone will provide funding for grants to teachers and schools within their communities,” said Brenna Cosby, FBEF Executive Director. “These grants, which support innovative academic projects, will be funded in the name of each community and will impact six campuses and hundreds of students!”
The six schools that will benefit are Austin Parkway Elementary, Bowie Middle School, Kempner High School, Lakeview Elementary, Neill Elementary and Sullivan Elementary. Johnson Development plans to create an ongoing relationship with FBEF.
“We feel a partnership with the Fort Bend Education Foundation is an effective way to give money back to the schools in our communities,” said Jerry Ulke, Vice-President and General Manager for Imperial Sugar Land and Harvest Green. “The thorough grant review process conducted by FBEF helps ensure the money is going where the schools need it most.”
In addition to education, YCFC awards grants for technology, community events, the environment, community infrastructure projects and health and wellness, among other interests. YCFC also supports the Children’s Catastrophic Fund, which is open to residents in Johnson Development communities who are challenged with the financial stress of caring for a child with a chronic, debilitating illness or birth defect.
Now in its 43rd year of development, Johnson Development has 17 active communities – 14 in the Houston area, two in Dallas-Fort Worth and one in Atlanta. For more information, visit johnsondevelopment.com.
