BY VANESSA ECHOLS
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — The Opelika-based Dream Day Foundation is on the move, but the local nonprofit is not leaving town. It now has a new home at the Nonprofit Center of East Alabama.
Local residents got a chance to see the new office and tour the Nonprofit Center during an open house held Tuesday, July 28.
Marion Sankey, who taught in the Opelika School System for 15 years, founded The Dream Day Foundation in 2009 to provide local students with mentors, leadership opportunities, scholarships and experiences they weren’t getting during the regular school day. Sankey called this move to the Nonprofit Center a major milestone for the 17-year-old organization.
“This gives us a permanent space where we can meet with students, parents, volunteers, community partners and host our mentoring and leadership programs at a central location,” she said. “And being surrounded by other nonprofits gives us an opportunity to collaborate with them as well.”
The foundation started with 60 students, and according to Sankey, now impacts 300 young people annually in Lee County. The current programs include the Dream Day Ambassadors, Teen Summit, Black Male Summit golf mentoring and the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. And since 2014, the foundation has awarded 40 scholarships to outstanding high school seniors in the program. The current Dream Day Ambassadors program has 50 high school students representing schools throughout Lee County.
Every year, there’s an increasing number of students and families who want to be a part of the program.
“Like many nonprofit organizations, our biggest challenge is securing sustainable funding to meet the growing demand for our program,” Sankey said. “We are continually working to expand our partnerships, increase grant funding and build long-term financial support, so we can serve even more youth,” Sankey said.
The Dream Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. More information is available on the organization’s website at www.thedreamdayfoundation.org. The Nonprofit Center of East Alabama is located at 1944 Opelika Road.
