Let's help to offer a bright future for city school children

Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.

My name is Ava McKee and I am fundraising for Emmanuels House Christian Academy. Children are the heart and soul of the city of Philadelphia. And my dream as founder of Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. has been too open a private school “Emmanuels House Christian Academy” in Philadelphia. I have been wanting to open a school for more than 30 years and have been working towards that goal for this entire time.

"The school actually means a lot to me," "I'm a wife, mother and grandmother and when I was a child my parents worked many hours a day to ensure that my siblings and I got a good education. So, they never attended any school things. So, I thought, opening a school for low-income families will be my baby!' And it has been for all these years."

It’s my opinion that the main job of the school is to fund curriculums and activities that make school fun for kids. Things like school trips to Museums, pizza parties for the honor roll students, bringing in a musical show for kids, or helping pay for the 6th graders to go to science fairs and charm school classes for young girls.

This year, its my number one priority to raise enough money to open and make it affordable to send as many low-income children to Emmanuels House Christian Academy as possible.

Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. didn't fundraise for the opening of a school last year or the previous two years because of COVID-19. So, this year, I’m determined to make fundraising goals happen. With the help of donors, I’m looking forward to the opening of Emmanuels House Christian Academy.

Ava says, "I’d like to take the children to the museum The Academy of Natural Science or The Franklin Institute, or African American Museum, or other field trips like to the Betsy Ross House. Things that could help in their education. But 90% of the children in this city come from low-income homes, and many of the children have never been to a museum or seen historical places in the city of Philadelphia.

Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. raises money through their own fundraisers, like fund raising events and t-shirt sales. But those don't generate huge amounts of money. Public and charter schools get their official budgets from local property taxes, as well as states and federal funding. Technically, public schools get more money per student today than they have historically gotten. But Emmanuels House Christian Academy will be a private school.

The public school district spends almost all its funds on things like salaries for teachers and benefits and the cost of running the building. What the principal gets to spend is closer to $1,200 per child because it's public funds. Emmanuel House Christian Academy will need these same kinds of funds to open and operate. But when Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. raises money from fundraisers like selling cheesecake or chocolate, or tee shirts or holding events that cannot be part of an official school budget like public schools get. Private schools are not funded by the government.

I believe it is a lot easier to ask parents and the community to pitch in for something like field trips than it is to go around asking parents to donate money to pay for the salary of a teacher. Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. could fundraise for that instead. But schools all over the U.S. choose to fundraise for the fun school perks instead because it works. People like to give money for this kind of cause.

But that means the fundraisers never stop. Every year Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. has a goal to raise $50,000. To get there, we hold about 10 fundraisers annually but we have been unsuccessful in reaching our goal.

If Virtuous Woman Ministries Inc. used a fundraising company, the company would take a cut off everything earned. The company usually gets 60% and the corporation who hires them gets 40%, which is not the best deal. So, we need your help. I would like to open a private school for the children of low-income families. Our children deserve the best. And you can help.