The Lawrence Schools Foundation is close to meeting its fundraising goal as it prepares for its biggest event of the year – the Community Education Breakfast.

Organizers hope the event, slated for Aug. 26, will collect $40,000 for schools. The Foundation is about $12,000 short of that target, executive director Susan Esau said.

The Foundation supports Lawrence schools and students. Its top benefactor is the school district’s early childhood programs, which each year receives $150,000 from the Foundation.

The guest speaker at the breakfast will be 1978 Lawrence High graduate Michelle Senecal de Fonseca. She is the vice president of corporate development with Nextiraone and lives in Barnes, London.

The Foundation recently received a $7,500 donation from the New Generation Society of Lawrence, a nonprofit group whose members are engaged in education, volunteer and philanthropic activities.

“That’s very exciting,” Esau said. “That $7,500 will go directly for the early childhood program.”