Dear Friends,

The Butterfly Project community has grown exponentially since our founding in 2006. Every year, students, teachers, museum educators, and partner organizations from around the world come together to learn, grow, and teach with The Butterfly Project–one student at a time.

Our unique, hands-on programming reaches students from across all backgrounds. No matter where they are, we consistently hear that our program makes a transformational impact on their communities and lives. Demand for our programming continues to grow. In our first eighteen years, we served approximately 375,000 students. In the last two years alone, we served more than 100,000.

This growth has been made possible by the generosity of donors like you.

Through partnerships with large institutions and subsidies provided directly to educators, half of all participating classrooms did so at no cost to educators. Our work with the Virginia Holocaust Museum demonstrates the significance of removing the cost barrier and having a regional partner. In the two years prior to partnering with VHM, fewer than a dozen schools participated in The Butterfly Project in Virginia. During the last two years, more than 26,000 students across the state participated due to VHM’s sponsorship of butterfly kits.

Likewise, across San Diego County, our participation doubled last year compared with the two prior years due to the generous support of local community members. Access to our programming was increased for underserved communities in particular. In San Diego, Title I schools comprised 44 percent of the schools served, and their orders increased 75 percent once we were able to reduce the cost of participation.

Still, for too many public school teachers, and especially those in Title I and lower-income schools, cost remains a significant barrier to participation. We are committed to removing that barrier so that access to funds does not determine which students have the opportunity to participate in The Butterfly Project.

This school year, we are asking for your help to make our program free for as many classrooms as possible. You can give today here.

No matter the level you are able to support, we thank you for helping The Butterfly Project grow and thrive at a time when our work is more relevant and essential than ever.

Debra Feldstein
Executive Director, The Butterfly Project