Katie and John Storey fell in love with Burlingame long before they arrived here in 2006. After all, they had been visiting Katie’s brother here for years. They loved the tree-lined streets, with people out walking their babies or dogs or both and kids playing basketball in the streets. And with two young kids of their own, they were drawn to our fabulous public schools.
While Katie & John’s kids were in the Burlingame School District, they were dedicated supporters of and volunteers for BCE. They appreciated that we fundraise together to support all of our schools and all our children. However, what we didn’t have in Burlingame when they arrived was a strong endowment. That’s changing now as we make a dedicated push to raise a $2,000,000 Endowment Fund.
The Storeys strongly believe public schools are so important for our community. They believe that the long-term sustainability of our public schools depends on stable sources of funding -- something hard to assure at the state level, but possible through the generosity of our community. Katie described her motivations to support the endowment: “It behooves us to invest in schools. They are the backbone of our neighborhoods. It is good for everybody to have strong public schools.”
While their children have been out of the district since 2016, it’s no surprise that when we reached out to them to consider the BCE Endowment that they jumped at the opportunity. “If you care about our community it’s a no-brainer. So much of it starts with the schools.”
When I asked Katie how they select philanthropies to support, she said “We like to donate where it has an impact and BCE has a huge impact. I trust the people who are going to spend the money we are investing. I feel like our donation really matters.”
