Special Projects

The Charles Fund Challenge

In 2005, The Charles Fund established an Angel Fund at Monticello to provide free admission and transportation for students from areas of Virginia who would not otherwise be able to visit Monticello.  With the program now well established, the Charles Fund has issued a challenge to all who want to expand opportunities for school field trips to Monticello for disadvantaged students from underserved areas of the Commonwealth.  The Charles Fund    will match gifts up to $100,000 in support of the Angel Fund. 

If this challenge is met, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation will make a public announcement inviting 3-6 grade classrooms in Virginia to apply for fieldtrip grants in 2012.  A panel of Foundation staff and educators will award the fieldtrip grants based on a combination of demonstrated need and clearly outlined plans to optimize the experience in the classroom before and after the visit to Monticello. 

The Angel Fund program is administered by the Carl and Hunter Smith Department of Education at Monticello which offers diverse educational opportunities for children, families, teachers, and adults.  Over 78,000 school-age children pass through Monticello each year on family and school trips, and the Smith Department of Educationa's K-12 curricular prams serve over 14,000 students annually. 

We invite you to help the Thomas Jefferson Foundation bring school children to Monticello by supporting The Charles Fund Challenge.  For more information or to support this project, please contact Kirstin Fritz at 434.984.9825 or kfritz@monticello.org.