Cody Voellinger addresses the crowd at the nonprofit’s first major fundraising event at Angelica’s in May. About $60,000 was raised that night for Redwood City public schools.
As Redwood City resident Cody Voellinger’s children approached school age, he became increasingly aware of the challenges facing the city’s public school system.
A $10 million structural deficit and declining enrollment caused the Redwood City Elementary School District last year to close and consolidate four schools — Fair Oaks, Adelante, Hawes and Orion elementary schools — and terminate principals, teachers and other employees.
“On so many fronts this city is a leader, but the schools have been left behind,” Voellinger said.
The troubling circumstances prompted Voellinger and three other Redwood City parents to launch the nonprofit Community Best, which seeks to empower local technology companies to give back to the city’s public schools in the form of donations and volunteer work.
“We want to guarantee every kid has a chance at a good education and who better to help us than these amazing companies right in our backyard,” Voellinger said.
Community Best is run by Voellinger, who is also co-chair of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association, along with Jane Buescher, Daniel Ho and Derek Voellinger. The partners all work in tech and manage the nonprofit in their free time.
Since the nonprofit was incorporated in January, Voellinger and company have spent much of their time building relationships with local tech companies and school officials.
In late May, they hosted their first major fundraising event at Angelica’s. About 200 people showed up, including representatives from the school district and tech companies such as Box, Google, Facebook and GoFundMe. More than $60,000 for Redwood City public schools was raised that night, some of which has been donated to PTAs. A committee is being assembled to determine how best to spend the rest of the money, Voellinger said.
The nonprofit also launched an ongoing GoFundMe campaign that has so far accumulated $4,510 from Redwood City tech companies, including GoFundMe, Skydio and IMVU.
Checks totaling $1,000 have been distributed to four schools, including John Gill Elementary, for what are known as STEAM lab makerspaces — designated spaces in schools that are outfitted with various tools and materials with which students can experiment. The nonprofit plans to eventually send $1,000 checks to each of the city’s 12 public schools.
Community Best also facilitates volunteer programs in which employees of local technology companies go into schools to teach coding and help build STEAM projects such as board games with electric circuits, hydraulic claws, paper airplanes and tie-dyeing, to name a few examples. Many local technology companies have quarterly volunteer programs, but aren’t necessarily sending their employees to Redwood City, Voellinger said. He aims to change that.
“It’s important for companies to give back and right now they’re shipping people around the Bay. There hasn’t been someone to build the bridge and do it locally here,” he said. “We have some of the best skilled engineers and designers in the world and we need a way for them go in and lend their skills and experience.”
Voellinger has also enlisted Mayor Ian Bain to serve as an advisor to Community Best.
“Schools are heavily dependent on tax money from the state and how do you get tech companies in the area to support schools?” Bain asked. “There’s an untapped opportunity there and a lot of tech companies don’t know how to get involved or how to support schools financially and otherwise. … I hope Community Best is incredibly successful and I hope it ends up being a model other areas can replicate.”
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
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