LEWISTON – The Lewiston Education Fund is ready to give away money.

The charitable foundation is digging into its coffers to offer five $1,000 grants to Lewiston teachers who want to do a creative or innovative project with their students.

The grants, which will be presented in December or January, mark the Lewiston Education Fund’s first mini spending spree.

“This is just a really exciting initiative for us, to create excellence and enhance education,” said state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, president of the fund’s board of directors.

The fund was established in 2002 with a $10,000 contribution from W/S Lewiston Properties LLC, a developer that wanted an easement across Martel Elementary School’s property. At the time, school officials envisioned the Lewiston Education Fund as a nonprofit foundation that would accept and distribute donations to the city’s schools.

Two years later, the fund has been little publicized and never used. A five-member board of directors spent the time creating a logo, a mission statement and concrete goal: $1 million in endowments.

Although far short of that goal – the nonprofit fund has $10,000 from the developer and another $10,000 in other donations – directors decided they could start giving away money and publicizing the fund this fall.

Directors set up a Web site this week and announced the fund’s five teacher grants at a School Committee meeting Monday night.

“It took us a long time to get this thing established, but we’re there now,” said Superintendent Leon Levesque, board of directors secretary, before the meeting.

Separate from the school system, with an independent board and its own goals, the fund will work with teachers and school officials to get a better idea of each school’s needs. But it will not pay for basic items normally covered in the school budget.

“It’s not going to be a rainy day fund for the School Committee,” said Peter Geiger, member of the board of directors.

Instead, the fund will collect donations and will use the money to create an endowment to pay for enrichment projects, extracurricular activities and innovative programs. Donors can also ask that their money be spent on a specific project or purchase, such as musical instruments for poor students or the salary of a visiting artist.

“It gives people a chance to build on their passions and touch the future,” Rotundo said.

Although many private schools and colleges have had such endowment funds for decades, they are rare for public schools. Levesque estimates that only a handful of school systems in Maine have similar funds.

Lewiston’s endowment will be managed by the Maine Community Foundation.