Support the Alliance With a Year-End Gift
2024 was, without a doubt, a momentous year for the Alliance Française de St. Louis!
AFSTL Executive Director, Isabelle Heidbreder
On October 4th we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our School. In 1964, the vision of one mighty woman, Estelle Brabant Powers, set up what and who the Alliance Française de St. Louis is today: a thriving school and cultural center.
Since becoming its executive director in 2009, I have been adamant that the Alliance Française de St. Louis should remain steadfast to the practice of holding one and only one fundraiser a year. 2024 will be no exception and we have set a $34,000 goal.
To those of you who pay for classes and renew your memberships on time, make a year-end donation to your AFSTL, or have already given generously this year, thank you!
PLEASE, help us further Estelle’s vision by giving generously to the Alliance’s End-Of-Year Appeal!
I hope that every board member, member, student, teacher, and staff member will contribute. It is not how much you give but that you care enough to give!!! No contribution is ever too small (nor too large!!!); it all makes a tremendous difference.
Thank you in advance for your generous contributions.
Isabelle
Have you ever thought about adding the AFSTL to your charitable bequests?
The Alliance Française de St. Louis is a 501(c)(3) organization.
ALL contributions are tax-deductible.
What does the Alliance Française de St. Louis offer you and the community?
Galette des rois Cooking Class with Isabelle
Over 40 group and private classes per week at ALL levels, from babies to the “more mature” crowd.
Casse-croûtes, four times a week (the best deals at the Alliance!).
Free monthly book clubs and events (from the sublime: conferences on history, art museum tours in French and English, Ciné-club, to our ridiculously fun Fête de la Musique karaoke night).
We also co-host events, commemorate and celebrate French holidays with cultural partners and organizations (La Société Française de St. Louis, Webster University, Les Dames d’Escoffier (Suzanne Corbett), etc.).
Libraries!!! 6000 volumes of fiction and non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, cookbooks, and children’s books at your fingertips!
Translations for immigrants’ families, not-for-profit organizations, and new parents.
Tours of the City in French through Discover St. Louis.
What have we done with your past donations?
Fête de Saint Nicolas 2023
We have regularly raised our teachers’ salaries and awarded them performance bonuses.
We have bought, paid, remodeled and maintained an amazing building.
We will be replacing students’ chairs in 3 of our 7 classrooms as well as installing sun-blocking films on all our windows to help keep our building cool and reduce our carbon footprint.
With the help and tireless efforts of our very own Master Gardener Linda Massey, we have established a garden that has enriched the lives of our members, visitors and neighbors.
We have purchased a flock of five Owls to enable simultaneous in-person and Zoom classes. They allow our students to keep up with classes when they are out of town or sick or the building closed by inclement weather. As a byproduct of this implementation, the AF has students in New York, Arizona, Hawaïi, and Madrid (Spain), among other locations distant from St. Louis.
We have weathered a pandemic and the fifteen-month closing of our building.
We have steadfastly added original artworks to our garden and walls.
None of the above would have been possible without your extraordinary generosity. Thank you!
What are we planning for 2025?
To continue to fund our teachers’ bi-yearly bonus program, and offer our employees educational training and opportunities for their future at the Alliance;
To reach out to local businesses for sponsorship, information and possible discounts;
To explore the possibilities of exciting new classes and workshops (travel, phonetics, cooking/baking, cultural, etc.); and
To offer fresh monthly events and activities (game nights, pétanque, movies, etc.).
See you at the Alliance!
