Colleagues and friends,

You already know the invaluable role that the Council for Opportunity in
Education (COE) plays in your work and your students’ lives. If you worked
at UMPI Upward Bound, you’d know that COE has successfully advocated with
Congress and the Department of Education to review your grants, despite the
minor spacing errors that caused their initial rejection. If you are a TRIO
or Gear Up grant writer, you know you how vital it is that you attend a COE
proposal writing workshop. And if you’ve attended a Policy Seminar, you
know that you and your students learn about policy and appropriations, and
how to advocate for our programs. And you know COE can’t do their job
without the strong financial support of Fair Share from TRIO/Gear Up staff.

Fair Share ends for this year on June 30. We can celebrate that Maine’s
share is at 125%. Maine always comes through. For many years, the New
England Opportunity Association (NEOA) ended well over 100% and usually in
the #1 spot. However, NEOA’s share is currently only at 95% and at least
three regions are ahead of New England. We can’t let this stand, especially
since some regions struggle to meet their Fair Share every year. We can’t
let COE down and we can’t depend on others to pick up the slack.

To help NEOA meet its Fair Share and hopefully come in #1 again, Darylen
Cote, David Megquier and I challenge you to give now. Give again or give
for the first time, but please give. Your dollars will be matched by the
three of us up to $900, resulting, we hope, in an $1,800 boost on Maine’s
part for Fair Share, and raising NEOA’s standing.

How much can you do to help assure that your programs will be there for
your students?

It’s easy: Go to http://coenet.org/donate.shtml where you can click to
donate online using a credit card or by downloading a Personal Contribution
Form to mail in a check.

Your donation will be added to Maine’s and NEOA’s Fair Share totals
automatically. Laurie Davis will keep us informed about the donations and
when we hit the $900 mark, Darylen, Dave and I will make our donations to
match yours. But do it today. The deadline is the end of the month. How
soon can we hit the mark? Are you with us?

Thanks for supporting your students and Fair Share.

—Alan Parks, retired TRIO director and unretired supporter