Fifteen years ago, Dolan Toyota made a bet on the people who shape our kids every single day — the teachers — and we never stopped. The Dolan Class Project began with one conviction: real change wouldn't come from writing a check and walking away. It would come from showing up, every year, for the people doing the hardest, most important work in our community.
Across the country, teachers reach into their own pockets for the basics — classroom technology, books, everyday supplies. They quietly cover the gap, because their students can't wait for a budget that may never come.
When donations flow to a school district, the generosity too often stalls in the system — absorbed before it ever reaches the individual classroom doing the work.
So we asked a simple question: what if the giving skipped the system entirely? We decided to put the money directly into the hands of teachers — to use immediately, right where it mattered most. That one idea became the Dolan Class Project.
In a classroom category and a school category, teachers share what they'd fund — and a community project their students will lead if they win.
Neighbors, families, and residents vote for the entries they believe in most. The most votes win — turning local giving into a regional event.
Dolan Toyota visits every winning classroom and school in person to deliver the check and celebrate with teachers and students.
To enter, every classroom presents a community project of its own — a way to pass the generosity forward. When a class receives, it also gives. Students don't just benefit from kindness; they get to participate in it.
Students have written to thank veterans for their service.
Classrooms have gathered and donated food to neighbors in need.
New ideas, born from kids discovering they can make their corner of the world better.
Every winner gets a surprise visit, a hand-delivered check, and a celebration. The look on a teacher's face — someone who has spent years quietly covering costs out of her own paycheck — is the whole story in a single moment. Fifteen years of those moments, remembered for a lifetime.
And we're just getting started.
Money reaches teachers and students themselves — not paperwork.
Neighbors choose the winners, so the whole region owns it.
Every grant sparks a new act of giving from the students.
Fifteen unbroken years — and growing, not winding down.
The largest single-year giving in the program's history.
