About Us

Established in 1989, the Education Foundation of Forest Grove is an independent non-profit organization assisting the Forest Grove School District in expanding the educational opportunities and resources available to our students.

The Education Foundation of Forest Grove is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1989 to expand educational opportunity and support for the Forest Grove School District. The Foundation funds numerous teacher grants and several alumni scholarships each year. Our vision is to generate a diversity of opportunity through collaboration, creativity, and growth.  It is our hope that through the funds raised we will be able to help bring back programs and electives that have been lost in previous years.


Our Mission:

“Building bridges of learning, enrichment, and education for the students of the Forest Grove School District.”

Crystal Hannan - President

Crystal joined the board in 2016 because she loved the idea of working with an organization with such an important mission to help our schools. Education is vital and unfortunately our schools lack the funding they need. The EFFG helps bridge that gap by funding teacher grants and scholarships for graduating seniors.  Crystal lives in Cornelius and has two boys at Forest Grove High School.  She is a naturopathic physician with a family practice - In Health Naturopathic Medicine - in Forest Grove.

Barbara Delegato - Vice President

Barbara taught elementary music for 33 years in the Forest Grove School District. During that time, she worked in all the elementary schools. That experience has given her perspective on the diversity as well as the varying demographics of the district. She has seen firsthand the many differences in financial and family support.
 She hopes by being on the board she can help support all students and teachers in the district by making them aware of the resources offered by the foundation. She brings her perspective to the board on district needs, especially in the arts where funding is always scarce.

She has passion for working on behalf of children and teachers and wants to continue to make a difference in the community.

Lorraine Heinauer - Treasurer
Lorraine agreed to serve as Treasurer on the EFFG board as a way of ‘paying back’ to the organizations that supported her in the past.  She would not have been able to attend high school or college without the benefit of grants and scholarships.  She has served as Treasurer on several other boards and has done her fair share of fundraising for schools and the community of Forest  Grove.  She also believes the EFFG is necessary to help fund schools in the district without active PTO’s.  Her vision for the future of EFFG is to promote awareness of its mission and to find more creative ways to raise funds.

Mary Lou Vandehey - Secretary

Mary Lou retired from teaching after 34 years, 17 of which were in the Forest Grove School District. She has been on site councils both as a parent and a teacher. Her 3 children graduated from the Forest Grove School District. After retiring, Mary Lou was looking for ways to support educators and students and was asked to join the Education Foundation. She is excited to award grants to teachers to enhance their educational programs for students and to also fundraise to award scholarships to graduating seniors. 

Susan Rodgers McDowell 

A board member since 2005, Susan's three daughters and now 2 of her 7 grandchildren, attended schools in the Forest Grove school district. She values the importance of vital schools that provide a strong opportunity for learning. Currently serving as Secretary, Susan particularly enjoys  awarding Teacher Grants