Donors Choose: Finding a Way to Fill a Backpack

While I was shopping with my friend one day, she asked if we could browse the school supply isle. She proceeded to fill the cart with pencils, erasers, construction paper and other material that I always remembered getting as a kid to fill my backpack on the first day of school. I asked what she was doing and she explain that it was the best time of year to go shopping for her students because of the early bird sales. I had always assumed that schools provided these basic materials, but to my surprise she said that most of the time, they don’t even get pencils. The books that they do get are in bad condition.

Since my friend works in a low income area, the kids can’t afford these basic materials. There are options to receive grants but those usually never make it on time. Therefore, out of the kindness of their hearts, most teachers, she explained, usually pay out of pocket for these materials. This is a tough thing to do when teachers don’t get paid nearly as much as they should these days.

Just recently, I came across an article written about a website called Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.com). It was started by a teacher who was in this same predicament. He saw first-hand the scarcity of materials in our public school classrooms and the profound impact of this scarcity on kids' education. He took it upon himself to create a website that connected classrooms in need with individuals who want to help.

Therefore, I thought I would pass this along to all of you so that we can continue to inspire children today with the resources they need to learn for the future.