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Photo provided by the Decatur Education Foundation

The Decatur Education Foundation has purchased a minivan to support its Opportunity Partnership mentoring program.

Now in its second year, Opportunity Partnership was created to address the opportunity gap that exists for many children in the area, a press release from the education foundation says. The program pairs local third graders with adult mentors who meet with them to learn about their interests and connect them with opportunities to help them develop useful life skills and discover their passions.

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Currently, the program has two cohorts that consist of 18 mentees. Until now, the groups’ activities were limited places within walking distance, but with the purchase of a new minivan, an entire cohort can explore beyond Decatur and attend group activities in the greater Atlanta area.

“Purchasing our own van is the realization of a dream for us,” DEF Executive Director Gail Rothman said. “Transportation has been an ongoing issue for our students. Living near metro Atlanta, there is a wealth of cultural activities just beyond our city that are now accessible to our mentor groups – essentially helping to close the opportunity gap for these kids. Having a van at our disposal will expand the number and types of enriching experiences available to them.”

According to the release, the purchase was made possible through a match grant from Decatur City Church, a local church affiliated with North Point Ministries, which stipulated that the donation be matched by gifts from other community donors.

“When we talked with [Rothman] last year and asked her to dream big about what would make a difference for DEF, we were excited about the possibility of helping fund the purchase of a van,” Tensley Almand, lead pastor at Decatur City Church, said. “Getting more kids better access to incredible experiences through DEF’s great programs was certainly a worthy goal.”

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