Tax Collector’s Office raises $34K for art education
Choice and creativity are the hallmarks of the more than 120 official specialty license plate designs available in Florida. The Kids Tag Art program was created to keep those qualities around for generations to come. The Lee County Tax Collector’s Office presented checks totaling $34,400 to 48 Lee County public schools and honored nearly 100 children as part of a recent ceremony celebrating Kids Tag Art, a partnership between Lee County Tax Collector’s Office and the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.
The program encourages fifth-grade students to come up with front-end license plate designs, with this year’s “Sizzle N’ The Arts” theme serving as a prompt. The winning designs will be sold at leetc.com, with proceeds going toward the schools. The Tax Collector’s Office also sells sponsorships of the program, raising even more money that goes to fund elementary-level art classes.
“It’s heartwarming to see how Kids Tag Art inspires so many young minds here in our community,” Lee County Tax Collector Larry Hart said. “The program helps offset a lack of funding for art education, and it also shows students how they can apply their art in commerce, as witnessed by all the plate designs we have for sale.”
Two students from each of the participating schools received the Award of Distinction for their designs during the ceremony held at school district headquarters on Feb. 27. The Award of Distinction-winning designs will be available for purchase at leetc.com starting March 13 for $20 plus $7.50 shipping and handling. The designs can also be purchased as a mug or a mousepad.
Hart’s favorite design will also be for sale on leetc.com later in March. He’ll honor the student designer with the Tax Collector Choice Award in a surprise ceremony at the student designer’s school.
AAA – The Auto Club Group is the program’s Premier Sponsor. Prominent Sponsors are Sam Galloway Ford, eGOV and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Several other community sponsors support Kids Tag Art, including the Cape Coral Community Foundation, Chris-Tel Construction, Edison National Bank/Bank of the Islands, Miami Heart Research Institute, Lee County Electric Cooperative, Merrill Lynch, and Strayhorn & Persons, P.L.
Sponsorships for next year’s Kids Tag Art program are available by calling the Lee County Tax Collector’s Communications Department at 239-533-6060. Call Beverly Burke of The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools Inc. at 239-337-0433 for program information.
