Thank you to everyone who contributed to our School Program Campaign! With a commitment from the Museum’s Board of Trustees, we met our goal to raise $10,000 to support the program from that 2026-2027 school year.

Over the past six years, we’ve transformed our school program. In 2019, about 500 students visited the Erie Canal Museum on a field trip. In 2025, that number was nearly 3,000. We got here because a handful of local foundations believed in us early, providing $42,500 in startup support to cover admission and transportation for schools that couldn’t afford it on their own. That investment proved the model works. Now we need to make it last.

Long term, we want to add $1million to our Agency Fund at the Central New York Community Foundation to provide reliable support of the school program. If you want to support the school program at the Erie Canal Museum, you can donate below, choosing to have your donation support the 2026-2027 school year or add to the school program long term sustainability.