A group of teachers in Boone, Iowa, led the community to band together to help less fortunate students. Would you like to do the same in your community? Here are some tips.

Provide information about local poverty. Boone’s teacher leaders would not have known the extent of student poverty and need in their district if they had not been part of a seminar that provided that information, including some specific examples. High school English teacher Ann Haugland says that several educators from other districts have told her that they admire the Hope Foundation’s work, but that they don’t have students with such needs in their district. That assumption probably isn’t accurate. But, without data from their own districts, they hold firm in their assumption.

Let leaders lead. Although the Boone school district couldn’t operate the Hope Foundation as a school-administered organization, the superintendent and building administration support the foundation in informal ways such as donating baskets and providing time for announcements and volunteer sign-ups during staff meetings. Earlier in 2011, the administration featured the foundation during a training day on local resources available for students and their families.

Build relationships. The recession of the last few years has certainly affected many schools. However, the example of the Boone Hope Foundation shows that people are willing to give charitably, even in tough economic times. Why? In this case, it’s because they know their giving benefits students in their own community. They trust the teacher leaders who run the foundation. They are themselves involved as volunteers, as people who refer students for assistance, and as people who have received assistance. They work together.

AUTHOR ID: JOANNE M. MARSHALL is an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

This article originally appeared in the May 2012 issue of Phi Delta Kappan.