Donor Partners
Our special thanks go to the generous sponsors who make the work of MEF possible for Chicago's youth. Below are long-time partners who have helped support MEF kids.
interested in becoming a partner?
If you would like to partner with us, click the button to fill out an interest form and one of our staff members will get back to you.
Current Program partnerships
Did you know?
At MEF, parents are our most important partners.
EPICS
This summer, Metro's Engineering Apprenticeship will be using a curriculum developed by Purdue, called EPICS. EPICS provides a free curriculum for engineering students in the demographic that MEF serves to carry out a design project with in the community.
AFS (American Field Service)
A long-standing partnership with Metro since 2001, AFS has helped 17 Metro students travel abroad in the summer for cultural exchanges in Costa Rica, Italy, France, Ghana, China, Thailand, Spain, Paraguay, and Turkey. Through the Faces of America diversity program, Metro students are able to get some of their travel tuition funded through generous grants from AFS.
Character Education Partnership
The Character Education Partnership (CEP) 'helps create safe, caring, and respectful schools where students flourish academically and do the right thing.' In 2011, our Executive Director Glenn Wilke was appointed to the CEP Board of Directors. MEF and CEP have a mutual interest in helping youth develop in virtue and character.
John Austin Cheley Foundation
The John Austin Cheley Foundation funds need-based "camperships" for high potential youth to attend extended-stay wilderness summer camps that have a proven track record of positively impacting youth development. Board member Geoff Euston sponsors applications for several MEF students each year. Thanks to this partnership, MEF students are able to experience the summer of a lifetime.
Crystal Fund
The Crystal Fund was established to support grants for an extended "away from home" cultural or educational experience that provide a skill, knowledge and/or personal value as a means of support for Chicago youth demonstrating financial need and leadership potential. Through the generous support of the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, many Metro students have seen their AFS trip become a reality through the Crystal Fund.
Go Farther Foundation
Through the generosity of Go Farther scholarships, Metro students have been able to secure the remaining funds to make their travel dreams a reality and travel abroad through AFS. While traveling with AFS, students have opened their eyes to a new world of possibilities and raised their expectations for what they can achieve in education and in their lives.
HarambeeUSA Foundation
Metro students participate in art, media and fundraising projects aimed at raising awareness of those needier than themselves in Africa.
Ladder Up
This Chicago organization offers Metro high school students and parents free financial aid assistance, especially with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Macheo
A community outreach program of Strathmore University. Metro high school students raise funds to purchase notebooks and pencils for Macheo students in the slums of Nairobi.
Merit School of Music
Through our partnership with Merit, our 4th-8th graders develop singing skills in the Metro Choir.
NSLI-Y: National Security Language Initiative for youth
NSLI-Y is an initative of the US State Department, and through the AFS Faces of America program, Metro students were invited to apply for the NSLI 2012 summer program to study strategically valuable languages. If chosen, they will study Russian, Arabic, or other critical languages including Korean, Hindi, Mandarin, Tajik and Turkish.
Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund presents scholarship opportunities to rising 9th graders every fall.
UIC Honors College
The UIC Honors College helps recruit volunteers for the ONE Program by presenting Metro as a volunteer opportunity.
DePaul University
Previous Partnerships
Joffrey Ballet
Kellogg School of Management - Neighborhood Business Initiative (NBI)
One Good Deed Chicago
Sally Grimes, ’97, built her career on pushing the innovation envelope. Now a leader at Tyson Foods, she’s changing the paradigm around what it means to be a big food company.