Oak Park and River Forest High School’s Project 2 is currently underway. The project involves building a new physical education wing on the southeast corner of the Scoville Avenue campus.
According to OPRF Superintendent Greg Johnson, the construction would not be possible without the support of The Imagine Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to raise money for facilities improvements at OPRF.
OPRF is “indebted to them in all sorts of ways” because “this is not something that a high school district would be able to pull off without such strong community support,” Johnson said.
“It’s really because of their generosity, their hard work, their networking, their conversations with those in the community and beyond, their tireless efforts, that this project is possible,” Johnson said. “It really doesn’t happen without their efforts.”
The foundation represents a growing trend in the world of fundraising: public-private partnerships. These partnerships use the combined resources and experiences of different sectors to share financing responsibilities for new projects.
In regards to the partnership between OPRF and The Imagine Foundation specifically, Johnson said the benefit lies in the fact that the foundation spreads awareness for those who want to help with public school needs but may not know how.
“The foundation opens that door, allowing people to realize there are ways to contribute to students in our community beyond simply focusing on individual activities or the success of just their own students,” Johnson said. “The foundation has really opened that door for a lot of people in our community.”
Launched in 2019 by OPRF alumni, the foundation is a private entity and receives donations from either individuals or corporate sponsors, as well as some grant money, Heidi Ruehle, executive director of the foundation, said. Many larger donors also have made multi-year gift agreements, allowing them to make their donation over several years.
Currently, all proceeds go directly to reimbursing OPRF for expenses related to Project 2. The Imagine Foundation receives invoices related to expenses associated with the project, and funds are used to reimburse these expenses in what Ruehle calls a “transparent process.”
“Oak Park and River Forest are such close-knit communities and rely heavily on the success of our school systems,” Ruehle said. “We feel it’s important for anyone who is willing and able to donate… With a successful high school, you have better real estate values, more ability to support small businesses and hopefully bring people back to the community once they are adults.”
Ruehle said that public-private partnerships can be very effective. However, there are several factors to consider first, including whether the community is able to support that strategy, whether there is a good working relationship between the two entities and whether the entity receiving the funds can accomplish their goals while the money comes in over time.
Luckily, Ruehle said the strategy works very well for Oak Park and River Forest. For this reason, Ruehle said the foundation hopes to be a lasting staple of the OPRF community.
“Our goal is to be a long-term, sustainable organization that continues to support all of the different projects in the pipeline for OPRF and whatever their facilities needs are beyond that,” Ruehle said.
So far, the school has completed Project 1, which created a “welcoming and safe” hub in the middle of the building, and the Track & Fields Project, which worked with the Park District of Oak Park to create a new 400-meter outdoor track.
Looking ahead, OPRF’s Projects 3, 4 and 5 will focus on creating a performing arts center, improving academics and administrative offices and creating a field house, respectively.
The foundation has committed to raising $12.5 million for OPRF’s Project 2, with a goal of $15 million. Johnson said it feels “wonderful” to have the support of the community as OPRF continues to look for ways to improve in the future.
“It feels both humbling and empowering to know that there are those in the community who are as committed as they are to public education, to this institution in particular, and to the plans we have in place to help make this facility one that is prepared to meet students’ educational needs for the next 100 years,” Johnson said.
