Welcome to Moms for the Future

MOMS FOR THE FUTURE is a grassroots association of mothers advocating for our children’s futures. Our mission is to promote a fair, responsible and sustainable culture of life for all children.

Why we're a "moms group":

OUR ADVOCACY WORK

We are advocating for more sustainable schools that can improve the health of our children and protect our environment while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels—namely, we seek healthier school buses, high-performance school buildings, and farm-to-school lunches. Our experience has taught us that taxpayers who voice their concerns to their school boards, administrators, teachers, and others can affect change in the 'here and now' that their children can witness. We have also learned that it is important to approach decision makers and community leaders during the planning stages, before pen-to-paper decisions are made. Here are some examples:

1) Healthy School Buses. Our West Chester members met with district administrators and transportation personnel, individual school board members, the Property & Finance Committee, Krapf Buses, and the full school board to advocate for a B20 biodiesel blend in our school buses. We consulted with biodiesel suppliers, researched grant information, learned about others' biodiesel experiences, and shared this information with the district. This ultimately led to the award of a 2-year, $300,070 state grant for the incremental cost of purchasing 2.27 million gallons of B20 for 5 school systems in Chester County – including West Chester, Chester County Intermediate Unit, Coatesville, Downingtown, and Kennett Consolidated School District - which will take place in 2008 through a unique partnership between Krapf Bus Companies and The Energy Cooperative, a non-profit biodiesel supplier.

2) High-Performance Schools. To promote environmentally responsible building and development of a large tract of land in a rapidly growing area of Downingtown Area School District, our Downingtown members regularly attended school board meetings as well as "Facilities and Finance” Committee meetings (called "Operations" in other districts). This gave us a better appreciation for the complexities of district planning. We also consulted with the Delaware Valley Green Building Council and other Facilities Directors who have gone "green" in other PA school districts. We snail-mailed and e-mailed our research findings and federal recommendations to the school board and administration, and we cited these recommendations in the ‘public comment’ periods during board meetings. DASD has recently stated their commitment to building their next school, a middle school, to silver LEED certified standards!

3) Farm to School. To gain a better understanding of how to get farm fresh food into schools, we consulted with the PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Sam Cantrell, a local farmer who works with schools in Chester County. One of our members started a garden and composting program this past summer at her child’s elementary school in West Chester. By working closely with Penn State's Extension program and several teachers, she has helped create a garden that will help teachers fulfill some of the the new PA Department of Education Environment and Ecology curriculum standards. Another West Chester mom has joined her elementary school’s new Wellness Committee and will have a Farm to School informational stand during an upcoming movie night.

Go to your district's website to find out where and when your school board meets, and ask how you can get involved with your teachers, parent-teacher organizations, and Wellness Committees that are starting to form across districts. For more information on our initiatives, and to learn more about how they can reduce fossil fuel use and global warming, click on "Our Projects & Positions," below.

Right now, our founding chapter is located in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Soon, we will offer tool kits for moms in other parts of the state or country who want to start their own local chapters.

Current members, prospective members, or anyone else interested in their children's or grandchildren's future can use this website as a resource. We welcome you!

Are you a mom or a grandmom living in or near Chester County, Pennsylvania? Do you care about our children’s future? Of course you do! Click here.

This is where you can learn about the issues that concern our children’s futures the most. Click here to get involved in our projects.

Click here for web links related to our projects, and to take some easy actions that will make a difference for our children's future.