The River of Knowlegde

River of Knowledge Library Fund

“River of Knowledge” is a non-profit fund raising project, initiated by the teaching staff and Parent Teacher Organization of Fort Smith Elementary School.  Our goal is to upgrade and refurbish the school library, to provide educational materials and opportunities to the children of this community that will keep them on an equal footing with their peers in other regions of the nation.

We are a small country school accommodating K-5 grades.  Fort Smith is a rural town located in the Bighorn River valley of Montana.  Our school operates from a very low tax base here on the Crow Indian Reservation.  With many parents being unemployed, the poverty level of many of the children is very high.  So, we have a dilemma, which greatly affects the educational opportunities of these children.

We have very limited access to books.  The nearest public library is a 90-mile round trip journey while a bookstore is twice as far.  We hope through this library fund to secure badly needed books, a computer system, and other educational media.  We wish to provide a location to which children can come to study, as well as, to experience the enjoyment reading can bring to their lives.

  Our goal is to raise $100,000 from philanthropic contributions and grant writing efforts.  Reaching this goal will greatly increase the learning potential of Fort Smith’s children.  These children will grow up to be the caretakers of the river and decision makers of the future.  Please help us give them the tools they need to do the job well.  Any contributions large or small would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to present this request to you.

Sincerely,