Over the past seven years, AFE's instrument donation and repair program has placed more than 400 instruments in the hands of Albany's students.

Generous community members donate instruments, and we work with John Keal Music to repair them. This ensures that students who do not have the financial ability to rent an instrument or take private lessons can still access Albany’s exceptional music education program and have a high-quality instrument with which to practice and perform.

Instrument repair costs vary greatly depending on the amount of work required; however the average repair bill is around $100. Your tax-deductible gift of $100 will put a newly revitalized instrument in the hands of an Albany student.

AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this is the perfect gift for the music-lover who already has everything!

More than 33% of children in the City of Albany are food insecure. Each Friday during the school year 500 students across the district who go hungry over the weekends when school meals are not available, receive a bag of food as part of the Feed and Read (FAR) program. These bags include weekly vouchers for a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk from Stewarts Shops - a crucial source of protein for families participating in this program. They also receive an age-appropriate book to nourish the mind as well as the body. Your $53 tax-deductible donation funds ten weeks of milk and eggs for a student. Unfortunately, inflation has driven up the costs for these essential items!

AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring person who already has everything.

Click here to learn more about this important program provided by HATAS in partnership with AFE, Grassroot Givers, and other committed organizations and volunteers.

Classroom Grants Open Doors to New Experiences

Albany is fortunate to have many dedicated teachers who go the extra mile to help their students learn! One avenue that these teachers take is applying for grant funding from AFE. AFE grants have sent students on field trips, brought authors and illustrators into schools, funded family STEM and literacy nights, and supported hands-on learning projects - among other things!

Your tax-deductible contribution of $100 will help fund one of these grants. AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring person who already has everything.

Provide Culturally Specific Items for our School Food Pantries

Albany High School and several of our elementary schools already have school food pantries, helping their students and families get the food they need to stay healthy and be able to learn. Thanks to grant funding from the Seymour Fox Memorial Foundation, Regeneron, and the Albany County Legislature, AFE is establishing food pantries at two of our district's middle schools, as well as the Albany International Center program for new arrivals to our country.

For many of our refugee and immigrant families, the materials available from food pantries are unfamiliar or not in line with cultural and religious practices. When you purchase this Impact Item, you will provide our school food pantries with funds to purchase items like hallal meat, spices, and culturally specific grains and noodles, helping all the families in our diverse district to feel at home in their schools!

You will receive a card acknowledging your donation and what it will do, which can also be given as a gift to a friend or family member.

Help a School Garden Grow! - There's no better place for learning than in a school garden. Hands on math, science, art, it's all there for students to experience first-hand. Your purchase will buy tools, plants, soil, and supplies for gardens throughout the school district.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Marcus Cicero

Your tax-deductible contribution of $30 will help fund one of these grants. AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring person who loves gardens and already has everything they need!

Give an Albany Student Weekend Food for an Entire Year

More than 33% of children in the City of Albany are food insecure and depend on school meals for nourishment. These students often go hungry over the weekend and arrive at school on Monday morning too hungry to concentrate on learning.

The Feed and Read (FAR) program addresses this issue. Each Friday during the school year more than 300 students across the district who would otherwise go hungry over the weekends receive a bag of food through the FAR program. Because research shows that having books at home encourages literacy, these students also get to choose an age-appropriate book each week to nourish the mind as well as the body. This important program is provided by HATAS in partnership with AFE, Grassroot Givers, and other committed organizations and community volunteers..

Sadly, inflation has substantially driven up the costs of this important program. Your donation will provide 11 pounds of food, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, and an age appropriate book to an Albany student every week for 10 months. You will receive an AFE note card acknowledging your donation and what it will do, which can also be given as a gift to a friend or family member

This comment from a teacher says it all, "Without FAR I know that many of our families would be without food."

In addition, your donation will cover this student's cost through AFE's summer food program, which provides our most economically-challenged students with weekend food bags over the summer as well.

Your tax-deductible contribution of $600 will provide food for one child for twelve months. AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring person who already has everything they need!

More than 33% of children in the City of Albany are food insecure. Each Friday during the school year 500 students across the district who go hungry over the weekends when school meals are not available, receive a bag of food as part of the Feed and Read (FAR) program. They also receive an age-appropriate book to nourish the mind as well as the body.

Unfortunately, inflation has driven up food costs for this important program, and your tax-deductible donation is more essential than ever. Your $200 donation will provide 11 pounds of food, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, and an age appropriate book to an Albany student every week for 3 months. You will receive a card acknowledging your donation and what it will do, which can also be given as a gift to a friend or family member.

This comment is from one student, "I like the backpack because there is good food, healthy food, and something new every week. It helps Mom not have to worry about food".

Click here to learn more about this important program provided by HATAS in partnership with AFE, Grassroot Givers, and other committed organizations and community volunteers.

Your tax-deductible contribution of $200 will provide food for one child for three months. AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring person who already has everything they need!

Albany Goes Green, a partnership of groups caring about the urban forest, has planted trees with Albany students for more than ten years. More than 600 trees have been planted on school campuses and throughout the city - including those planted last Spring in Lincoln Park by TOAST students.

Your tax-deductible contribution of $50 will purchase one tree for a student to plant. AFE will send you a note card acknowledging your contribution and what it will achieve - this could be the perfect gift for the caring eco-friendly person who already has everything they need!

Show your support for AFE - and make sure your coffee is always close at hand - with this genuine YETI 10 oz. tumbler. Tumblers *should* arrive and be available for pick-up before 12/25, but there is a possibility they will be slightly later.

Show off your love for AFE on your car, your fridge, your file cabinet - anywhere a magnet will stick! These magnets are 3" tall and were printed by local company Sticker Mule.

Display your AFE love on your water bottle, laptop, car - wherever it sticks your fancy! These heavy duty vinyl stickers are made by local company Sticker Mule and actual sticker image is not blurry!

You've been asking for these for a while - and now they're finally available! Show your love for the Albany Fund for Education by wearing an AFE T-shirt out and about. These attractive 100% cotton (pre-shrunk) navy shirts feature the AFE logo on the front and the "Every Student, Every School" logo with the Albany skyline on the back.

Please note - shirts will be purchased based on orders placed after the auction is complete. They will be distributed once they are received - before December 25, but not with other auction items.

You've been asking for these for a while - and now they're finally available! Show your love for the Albany Fund for Education by wearing an AFE T-shirt out and about. These attractive 100% cotton (pre-shrunk) navy shirts feature the AFE logo on the front and the "Every Student, Every School" logo with the Albany skyline on the back.

Please note - shirts will be purchased based on orders placed after the auction is complete. They will be distributed once they are received - before December 25, but not with other auction items.

You've been asking for these for a while - and now they're finally available! Show your love for the Albany Fund for Education by wearing an AFE T-shirt out and about. These attractive 100% cotton (pre-shrunk) navy shirts feature the AFE logo on the front and the "Every Student, Every School" logo with the Albany skyline on the back.

Please note - shirts will be purchased based on orders placed after the auction is complete. They will be distributed once they are received - before December 25, but not with other auction items.

You've been asking for these for a while - and now they're finally available! Show your love for the Albany Fund for Education by wearing an AFE T-shirt out and about. These attractive 100% cotton (pre-shrunk) navy shirts feature the AFE logo on the front and the "Every Student, Every School" logo with the Albany skyline on the back.

Please note - shirts will be purchased based on orders placed after the auction is complete. They will be distributed once they are received - before December 25, but not with other auction items.

You've been asking for these for a while - and now they're finally available! Show your love for the Albany Fund for Education by wearing an AFE T-shirt out and about. These attractive 100% cotton (pre-shrunk) navy shirts feature the AFE logo on the front and the "Every Student, Every School" logo with the Albany skyline on the back.

Please note - shirts will be purchased based on orders placed after the auction is complete. They will be distributed once they are received - before December 25, but not with other auction items.