EAST LANSING -- "All of the books are loaded on the MP3 players," Lorraine Ware says Thursday as she shows off her students' new audio books.

She's a third-grade teacher at Red Cedar Elementary in East Lansing.

"This is a book that my kids put together following our experience at the Big Zoo Lesson," Ware says, reflecting on the class trip to Potter Park Zoo.

Those niceties might not have been possible without the help of some education-minded community members.

"The East Lansing Educational Foundation has offered teachers an opportunity to apply for grants that will enrich their teaching in the classroom," Ware says.

That private group -- ELEF -- awarded grants to Mrs. Ware's class -- just a slice of the $200,000 total they've raised for teachers in East Lansing over the last 10 years.

"Field trips get cut," says Jane Bitsicas, co-president of the ELEF. "So if we can give a school money to take a field trip, to go to the zoo and do that sort of thing, it just enriches the children's experience."

The group gathered Thursday at the high school to announce a more ambitious goal: A $1.3 million endowment over the next three years.

"We are so pleased to announce that we have arrived at a little over $500,00 toward our $1.3 million goal," co-president Joan Berardo says.

Bitsicas echoed that excitement. "We're trying to fill in the blanks and do what the school district can't do."

Those blanks, of course, have grown with budget cuts to school districts across the state. East Lansing schools, for one, are staring a $2 million shortfall for the 2009-2010 budget.

That's why the ELEF is investing its funds in the Capital Region Community Foundation. They're expecting returns of 8 percent to 9 percent a year, which should allow them to continue investing in education for years to come.

"Says a lot," East Lansing Superintendent Dave Chapin said Thursday. "It says there's a real high value placed on public education in the East Lansing community."

That sense of community rubs off on the students. So, too, Mrs. Ware says, does another important lesson: Earn what you want.

"We're putting on a 'book bingo' next week; there are pop can drives, bake sales," Mrs. Ware says.

The kids, in other words, are in on the fundraising spirit, too.