Dear Editor,

I am President of the Chilton Education Foundation, a/k/a PEECH. I thought you might be interested to know that we gave out the 2009 grants.

Over the past two weeks, more than fifty teachers and educators received almost $25,000 in grant money. Given the current economy, we felt that we had a good year. The foundation has been awarding grants since 1996 (making 2009 the 14th year), and we have never failed to award less than $20,000 and have awarded as much as $38,000 (in 2008).

We have been blessed by the generosity of our community; each year, individuals and businesses have been gracious in their response to our fundraising efforts.

I include the support of the Clanton Advertiser in this because you have provided invaluable publicity in spreading the good word about PEECH. Consequently, our reputation has grown, and so has our support.

Thank you for your support. I appreciate the space the paper has alloted to print pictures of the various board members as they spread the good news. We have a great community; this is evidence of it.

Thanks again.

— David Karn, President, Chilton Education Foundation