Greater Homewood and Groupon Partner to Raise Funds

A local nonprofit and an Internet bargain website are using an innovative tool to help raise the money to paint the main office of a Charles Village school.

The Greater Homewood Community Corporation and Groupon have teamed up to raise $500 to paint the office at Barclay Elementary/Middle School.

They are using the Groupon website, which allows users to donate in $10 increments from Tuesday through Thursday to raise the funds.

Christy Zuccarini, a spokeswoman for Greater Homewood, said this is part of a larger initiative to paint the interior of the entire school. She said the donation total of $500 was set because the Groupon campaign runs for 72 hours. If the nonprofit raises more than $500, additional funds will go toward painting the rest of the school.

Greater Homewood operates the Great Schools Charles Village program that is aimed at getting area residents to send their children to local public schools.

Part of that program is to improve the image of the schools by fixing their appearances. Throughout this summer, students and residents worked on a mosaic that will be placed on the school’s entrance.

Volunteers from Constellation Energy recently repainted the school’s first floor hallways with supplies donated by Seawall Development. Students from Goucher College’s FOSTER program also helped assemble new furniture for the school’s lobby.  

According to a press release from Greater Homewood, there are about 450 students who attend the school. 

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