2024 MEF Jeans & Jerseys Gala enjoyed by fans of football and education!

2024 MEF Jeans & Jerseys Gala enjoyed by fans of football and education!

Sponsors | Gallery

The Merrillville Education Foundation hosted its Jeans and Jerseys Gala on October 27, 2024, at the Croatian Center in Merrillville. It was a great afternoon filled with fun tailgate food, exceptional beer, wine and spirits tasting, basket raffles, friendly fellowship, and football games to watch while attendees wore their favorite team jerseys. Everyone enjoyed themselves, plus we raised funds to continue our mission!

2024 MEF Jeans & Jerseys Gala Sponsors
Many thanks to our sponsors of the 2024 MEF Gala! With your support, the Foundation continues to provide unique and valuable education opportunities for Merrillville students.

Our heartfelt gratitude to the following sponsors for “Making a Difference”

Platinum Level – $1000
Performance Services, Inc. – www.performanceservices.com

Gold Level – $500
Corvirtus, Inc., Jennifer Yugo – www.corvirtus.com
Dominic Nicolini/Orchard Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley – www.advisor.morganstanley.com/dominic.nicolini
Puntillo & Crane Orthodontics PC –  www.puntilloortho.com

Silver Level – $250-$499
Andrew Draper/Prudential Financial –  www.prudential.com/advisor/andrew-draper
Dr. Dexter Suggs and Dr. Shenia Suggs
DVG Team, Inc. –  www.dvgteam.com
Family Express –  www.familyexpress.com
Seller Dentistry PC – www.sellerdentistry.com
Sharp School Services – www.sharpschoolservices.com

Bronze Level – $101 – $249
Acme Print Copy Design – www.acmeprintcopydesign.com
Art Hill Ford Lincoln – www.arthillford.com
Catch Restaurant, Merrillville – www.catch22nwi.com
Centier Bank – www.centier.com
DeLena Thomas
Merrillville Lions Club –  www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/merrillville/index.php

Purple Level – $100
Barrick Real Estate Group – www.dbarrick.coldwellhomes.com
McMahon & Associates, CPA’s –  www.mcmahonpc.com
Tony & Allyson Lux

Our heartfelt gratitude to the following Business and Patron Gift Donations for “Making a Difference”

Other Past Fundraising News

6th Annual MEF Walk-A-Thon is a great success!

The Merrillville Education Foundation sponsored its 6th Annual Walk-A-Thon on October 7, 2023, at the Merrillville High School Soccer/Track and Field Area. It was another great day!

Albanese Candy
Angie’s Restaurant
Asparagus Restaurant
Barb Orelup & Kathy Martin
Bullpen Luxury Bar & Grill
Catch Restaurant
Chick-fil-A Restaurant
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant
Costco
Culver’s Restaurant
Custom Data Services
Cute as a Cupcake
Doreen Lumbarkoski
Fiori Italian Restaurant
Gail Nicolini
Gino’s Steakhouse Restaurant
Gordon Food Service
Harvest Tyme Family Farm
Innsbrook Country Club
Lori Govert
Maple and Bacon Restaurant

Marisa Smoljan
Mary Hoffman
Maxim’s Restaurant
McDonalds – Modrak Group
Nancy and Andy Draper
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Off Square Brewing
Piccolo Sogno Restaurant
Public Bar & Rec/Cheese Almighty
Radius Restaurant
Republic National Distributing Company
Simon Sez Restaurant
Sky Zone
Terrell Taylor
The Yoga Room
Tina Davis-Powell
Turkey Creek Golf Course
Up Your Alley
Urban Air Adventure & Trampoline Park
Zig-E’s Funland

2023 MEF Gala Hops & Vino Festival 2.0 enjoyed by many!

2023 MEF Gala Hops & Vino Festival 2.0 enjoyed by many!

The Merrillville Education Foundation hosted the Hops and Vino Gala 2.0 at Avalon Manor on April 21, 2023. It was a great evening and everyone enjoyed themselves, plus we raised funds to continue our mission!

2023 MEF Gala Sponsors
Many thanks to our sponsors of the 2023 MEF Gala! With your support, the Foundation continues to provide unique and valuable education opportunities for Merrillville students.

Silver Star Sponsorship – $500
Andrew Draper/Prudential Financial
Centier Bank – Merrillville Branches
Dominic Nicolini/Orchard Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley

Bronze Star Sponsorship – $250
Catch Table & Tap Restaurant

Purple Star Sponsorship – $150
DeLena Thomas
Pickle Time of Crown Point

Table Sponsorship – $100
David Barrick/Coldwell Banker Realty
Joe and Annette Allegretti
Linda Jonaitis
Marissa and Scott Smoljan
Mike Hadt/Capital Mangement Group at Oak Partners, Inc.

 

Business and Patron Gift Donations

Albanese Confectionery Group
Andrew Draper
Asparagus Restaurant
Barb Orelup
BJ Brewhouse
Catch Table and Tap Restaurant
Chick-fil-A of Merrillville
Custom Data Services/ Chris Govert, Adam Mlynarcik, Adam Pardune
Dorine Lumbarkoski
Gail Nicolini
Gina Nicolini
Innsbrook Country Club
Kathy Martin
Kim and Steve Coppolillo
Lindsey Megyesi
Lori and Chris Govert
Marisa and Scott Smoljan
Mary Hoffman
Maxim’s Restaurant
McMahon & Associates, CPA’s, P.C.

 

Merrillville Auto Zone
Merrillville Discount Tire
Merrillville Happy Car Wash
Merrillville Take 5 Oil Change
Mike and Micky Zolfo/ The Yoga Room
Morgan Mechanical Systems, Inc.
Nancy Draper
Piccolo Sogno Restaurant
Pickle Time of Crown Point
Red Lobster – Merrillville
Republic National Distributing Company
Riste Ristevski
Sherron Pampalone
Sophia’s Famous Pancakes
Steve Govert
The Exercise Coach
Tillena Eddie-Castleberry
Tristan Facer – Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
Turkey Creek Golf Course
Wellness Retreats
Youche Country Club

Other Past Fundraising News

6th Annual MEF Walk-A-Thon is a great success!

The Merrillville Education Foundation sponsored its 6th Annual Walk-A-Thon on October 7, 2023, at the Merrillville High School Soccer/Track and Field Area. It was another great day!

Celebrating our 20th year at the 2022 MEF Gala Hops & Vino Festival

Celebrating our 20th year at the 2022 MEF Gala Hops & Vino Festival

The Merrillville Education Foundation hosted the Hops and Vino Festival at Avalon Manor on May 27, 2022, to celebrate our 20th year of existence. It was a great evening and everyone enjoyed themselves, plus we raised funds to continue our mission!

Please check out our list of 2022 MEF Gala Sponsors and enjoy the photo gallery below.

 

2022 MEF Gala Sponsors
Many thanks to our sponsors of our 2022 MEF Gala! With your support, the Foundation continues to provide unique and valuable education opportunities for Merrillville students.

9720 Barbershop and Spa
Albanese Confectionery
Andrew Draper – Prudential Financial
Annette and Joe Allegretti
Asparagus Restaurant
Barb Orelup
Big Daddy BBQ
BJ Brewhouse
Chicagoland Popcorn of Merrillville
Chick-fil-A of Merrillville
Chris and Lori Govert
Ciao Bella Restaurant
Clifford Pierce Middle School
Custom Data Services – Chris Govert, Adam Mylnarcik, Adam Pardune
Dave Barrick – Coldwell Realty
Dorine Lumbarski
Fieler Elementary School
Gail Nicolini

Gino’s Restaurant
Gorgeous Glow Aesthetics
Greg Bosak
Iddings Elementary School
Innsbrook Country Club
John Wood Elementary School
Joy Kent
Kathy Martin
Kim and Steve Coppolillo
McMahon & Associates, CPA’s, P.C.
Major Saver
Marissa and Scott Smoljan
Mary Hoffman
Maxim’s Restaurant
Merrillville High School
Merrillville High School Athletic Department
Merrillville Intermediate School
Mike and Micky Zolfo – The Yoga Room

Mike Hadt – Oak Investments
Miller Elementary School
Nancy Draper
Net Par
Nick and MaryBeth Brown
Nicole Clark
Piccolo Sogno Restaurant
Planet Fitness of Merrillville
Salk Elementary School
Sky Zone
State of Mind Salon and Day Spa
Terrell and Marnita Taylor
The Exercise Coach-TJ Lux and Trainer Ashley
Turkey Creek Country Club
Up Your Alley
Walmart of Schererville
Wise Guys
Youche Country Club
Zig-E’s Funland

Other Media Galleries

6th Annual MEF Walk-A-Thon is a great success!

The Merrillville Education Foundation sponsored its 6th Annual Walk-A-Thon on October 7, 2023, at the Merrillville High School Soccer/Track and Field Area. It was another great day!

2021 MEF Walk-A-Thon Photo Gallery

The Merrillville Education Foundation sponsored its 4th Annual Walk-A-Thon on October 9, 2021, at the Merrillville High School Field House. It was another tremendous success for MEF fundraising efforts!

In loving memory of Bruce Woods

Bruce Woods, one of the founding board members of the Merrillville Education Foundation, passed away on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at the age of 78. He was a retired Merrillville teacher and admired community member of Northwest Indiana.

Bruce served in the United States Army in the 1960s and later went on to teach English at Merrillville High School from 1971 to 1999. He served for a time as department head and as a faculty adviser for the yearbook and school newspaper, along with directing high school plays. He was also an involved member of the Merrillville Classroom Teachers Association during his teaching career.

As a member of the MEF, Bruce was the Grant Committee Chairperson since the foundation’s inception 19 years ago and the past president for the last 3 ½ years. His willingness to help at any event was inevitable, and he was always there to support the foundation in any way he could. Bruce also completed scholarship scoring for the Crown Point Community Foundation, volunteered at Harbor Light Hospice and worked with Merrillville and Hobart Meals on Wheels.

Bruce was very involved in his community, and served as a member of many organizations including the Lake Court House Foundation; Lake County Historical Museum; Lake County Historical Society; Old Homestead Preservation Society; Crown Point Historic Preservation Commission; Merrillville Education Foundation; Merrillville Classroom Teachers Association; Lake County Public Library Board of Trustees; Lt. Gov. Calumet Division of Kiwanis; Merrillville, Gary and Hammond Kiwanis; Times Editorial Advisory Board; Association of Indiana Museums; Lake Michigan Coastal Advisory; Appointed County Historian; and County Historian Preservationist, according to his obituary.
Bruce received the Legacy Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2000, as well as the Indiana Historical Society’s Hubert Hawkins History Award in 2002. He was an exceptional human being and will be greatly missed by all.

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Merrillville Education Foundation helps students get connected!

Merrillville Education Foundation helps students get connected The Merrillville School Board recently accepted a gift of $6,000 from the Merrillville Education Foundation to purchase hotspots for families who need internet connections.

During a normal school year, the foundation usually offers two rounds of grants to fund teacher projects based on innovative and creative approaches to learning in the classroom.

With the school corporation offering virtual learning during the first trimester, the foundation board chose instead to use its funds to help provide internet hookups for Merrillville families that have been challenged to provide basic internet for their children, a necessity when learning remotely.

“This year with the COVID-19 pandemic still upon us, we wondered if there was a different way the corporation could use our money to benefit the students besides the usual round of grants,” said Mary Hoffman, foundation executive director. “We also knew that teachers would be very busy with the challenges of e-learning and may not have time to write a grant this fall trimester.”

Hoffman said the donation should sponsor 25 hotspot set-ups.

“We greatly appreciate the funding from the education foundation,” said Steven Kerr, coordinator of network operations for Merrillville schools. “This will allow us to provide more students with internet access at home during virtual learning and in the future, as we expand the use of technology within the classroom.”

Kerr said the hotspots the school system uses are completely mobile and can provide the service to any of our families without any issues. He said they can also be reissued to different families as needed.

“The corporation has compliant filtering on those hotspots that will help keep our students safe,” Kerr said.

“With all these features in place, the MEF felt that our funds would be used wisely and are proud to, once again, work with the corporation for continued student success in school,” Hoffman said.

Since 2002, the Merrillville Education Foundation has awarded 436 grants to teachers totaling $378,082.66. These grants have impacted more than 119,476 student experiences in grades Pre-K through 12.

MEF presents funds to MCSC School Board

At an October meeting of the Merrillville Community School Corporation School Board, officers of the Merrillville Education Foundation presented a ceremonial check in the amount of $22,787.20 for awarded MEF grants during the 2016-17 school year. All funds were raised by MEF and went directly to a wide variety of programs impacting students at every school within the MCSC.

The presentation was made by MEF board members Mary Martin Hoffman, Marisa Smoljan, Bruce Woods, and Kathy Martin.

For a complete list of awarded grants, please visit our Awarded Grants page.