On Saturday, Oct. 3, Safer Fayetteville will welcome hundreds of community members to Stonebreaker for the Southwest Tailgate, an evening built around great food, live music, unique experiences and, most importantly, a shared commitment to supporting the safety of Fayetteville Public Schools.
The Southwest Tailgate will blend an elevated Arknasas tailgate experience with plenty of Fayetteville personality. Guests can expect live 90s country music, local food and drinks, a mechanical bull, custom cowboy styling, permanent jewelry, embroidered bandanas, a tattoo truck, live and silent auctions and more.
But behind all of the fun is a very specific purpose.
This Year’s Goal: Better Communication Across Every FPS Campus
Funds raised through this year’s Southwest Tailgate will help support additional two-way radios across all 17 Fayetteville Public Schools campuses, strengthening the ability of school personnel to communicate quickly and effectively when it matters most.
The initiative will benefit a district serving nearly 10,000 students, in addition to the teachers and staff who care for them each day.
The need itself did not originate with Safer Fayetteville. And that distinction is important to the organization.
Safer Fayetteville works alongside Fayetteville Public Schools by asking a simple question: “What can we do to help?”
The district’s answers guide the organization’s work and fundraising, allowing members of the community to step in and help provide resources that can remove financial barriers and accelerate important safety initiatives.
The goal of this year’s Southwest Tailgate is to do exactly that.
So, What Is Safer Fayetteville?
Safer Fayetteville is an independent nonprofit organization led by parents with children in Fayetteville Public Schools — but it has always been bigger than the parents who started it.
It is a community of people committed to helping ensure that safety and security needs across Fayetteville schools can be met without unnecessary barriers or delays.
Safer Fayetteville does not determine what schools need, create district safety policy or make operational decisions for Fayetteville Public Schools.
Instead, the organization listens.
When district leaders identify a safety or security priority where community support can make a meaningful difference, Safer Fayetteville works to help provide the resources necessary to move that work forward.
What Has Safer Fayetteville Done?
To date, Safer Fayetteville has supported seven safety projects across Fayetteville Public Schools, helping fund initiatives ranging from improved signage and lockdown resources to security film and other measures designed to better protect campuses.
Most recently, Safer Fayetteville partnered with the community to support the implementation of CENTEGIX CrisisAlert badges districtwide, providing teachers and staff with wearable technology designed to help them quickly request assistance during an emergency.
Each project has looked a little different because each has been driven by an identified need within Fayetteville Public Schools.
That is intentional.
Safer Fayetteville exists to be a bridge between the needs identified by the school district and a community eager to help meet them.
More Than a Fundraiser
The Southwest Tailgate is certainly designed to be a great night. But for Safer Fayetteville, its success will ultimately be measured by what happens after the last song is played and the final guest leaves Stonebreaker.
Every sponsorship, auction bid, donation and ticket purchased represents a community willing to invest in the people who walk into Fayetteville schools every morning.
Parents. Teachers. Staff. And nearly 10,000 students.
Because safer schools aren’t the responsibility of one group alone. When Fayetteville Public Schools identifies an opportunity to strengthen safety, Safer Fayetteville believes our community should have a way to say: How can we help?
And then get to work.
Want to donate to Safer Fayetteville? https://saferfayetteville.com/
Have questions or want to get involved? Email Kirsten Morman, Executive Director, at Kirsten@SaferFayetteville.com