What this fund promises your child.

The promise, in plain words.

• Your child is included. Every child enrolled at or present at Silver Rail on October 15, 2026. Once you register, there is nothing more to qualify for.
• You register once. We confirm enrollment one time, privately. Your child stays eligible for as long as this fund exists, at any school, in any town.
• You tell us what would help. A class, a sport, a camp, a counselor, a day out. One line is enough. You never explain why.
• We pay the business directly. No reimbursements to chase and no child's name on a check.
• Group things need no ask. Field trips and activities for all Silver Rail kids are announced to every registered family.
• We keep almost nothing. Five things about your family (listed below). We never keep the paperwork you show us.
• We share nothing. Not with the school, the district, the PTO, a sponsor, or the press. Ever.
• You can leave any time. One email to hello@ and your record is deleted within a week.
• We pay for what we can. While the fund has money. The balance and every dollar out are published monthly, by category, so you can see it yourself.
• No one here is paid. And no board member can approve a request for their own child.

This page describes how the fund operates and what families can expect. It isn't a contract: what we can pay for depends on what the fund has, and the board may update these rules as we learn. Any change will be posted here first.

How it works, step by step.

1. Register below. Your name, email, phone, your child's first name and grade, and a checkbox confirming they were at Silver Rail on October 15.
2. We confirm enrollment, once. Within three days a Silver Rail parent on the board emails you and asks to see one ordinary thing: a ParentVUE screenshot, the October report card, a class email from the teacher, or the school's own October 15 message to families. We look. We don't save it, forward it, or print it.
3. You're in. You get a short confirmation email. That's the last time anyone asks you to prove anything.
4. Ask when something would help. Email hello@silverrailchildrensfund.org or use the form on the home page. "She wants to try the ceramics class at ___, it's $45" is a complete request.
5. We say yes and pay the business. We aim to answer within three business days and to pay before the activity. Requests over $1,000 need two board members to sign off.
6. The ledger shows a category and an amount. "Art class, $45." Never a name, never a reason.

If you've moved and have no paperwork, we'll send you a one-page release that lets the district confirm enrollment to us directly. If your child was present on October 15 but not enrolled, tell us; the board decides those case by case and records the decision without your child's name.

What we keep, and what we never collect.

We don't pull records from Bend-La Pine Schools and we don't ask for them. Federal law (FERPA) protects your child's records from exactly that, and it should. The only person who ever puts your child on our list is you.

Register your child.

One form per child. A Silver Rail parent will email you within three days to confirm enrollment. Nothing you write here is shared.

Your answers go straight into the fund's own private Google Workspace, opened only by board officers. If the form doesn't load, open it in a new tab or email hello@silverrailchildrensfund.org.

Questions parents have asked.

Do I have to ask every time my child needs something?

You ask the fund, not a person: requests go to hello@ and are approved under published rules (up to $250 any officer, up to $1,000 an officer with a note to the board, over $1,000 two officers in writing; never your own child). For individual things, yes, and that's on purpose. You know what your child needs better than we do, and asking is one line in an email. Group activities are open to every registered family without asking.

What if the fund runs out?

We pay requests in the order they come in. If money gets tight, the board sets a per-child cap for the quarter and publishes it, and we tell you before a request is declined, never after. The balance is public every month.

Who decides what counts?

If it's for your child and a business or provider can be paid for it, it counts. A board member who is a parent never approves a request for their own child; another officer does.

What happens to my information if the fund closes?

The registry is deleted before the last dollar is transferred. The receiving nonprofit gets the money, not the list.

Is there a long-term plan?

Yes: a check-in with every registered family each year, support for therapy and activities when other help has moved on, and, as the fund allows, a scholarship for each child at 18. Our bylaws and this page are the written version of that plan.

Register your child   Or ask us something first →