Supply Our Schools

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2010-04-26T10:35:00.001-04:00

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Gracias, Salamat, Merci for torturing us

2010-02-10T09:47:00.002-05:00

All of us remember the teachers we had in school who used to give us so much work and challenge us so much, we thought we were being tortured. When we look back at which teachers helped to shape us, these "torturers" are often the ones we think about and thank.

The good news is that lots of teachers like this are torturing/teaching children in our public schools today.

Some of the kids have written thank you notes like:

"Thank you for giving us the paper. Even though we get tortured with math we still are grateful."

"Thank you so much for donating the books. I'm not a big fan of reading, but since you sent the books, I guess I will read them."

Help us help these teachers torture their students with more math and reading!

buy CRAYONS for Valentine's Day!

2010-01-08T11:53:00.002-05:00

You probably read the heading and said, “What?! Crayons for Valentine’s Day? Thanks, but no thanks!”

Well, wait a second. Hear us out.

We’re not suggesting that you send your honey crayons. We’re not that loopy. What we are saying is take the $100 you would spend on a dozen roses and send crayons, paper, copies of Jane Eyre, whatever, to kids in your sweetheart’s home state. Maybe even kids in the school your schnookums graduated from. When your darling sees how much joy you have spread in their name, you will get a reward. We practically guarantee it.

So, see what stuff the kids need for school, buy some and then sit back and wait for the love to wash over you.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Pick a classroom: www.SupplyourSchools.org
2. Buy some supplies
3. Put your sweetie’s down as the Honoree

The love of your life will get thank you notes like these and love you even more for it:

Thank you for the rulers. Now we can measure all types of things like books and shoes. It just was a good idea.”

Thank you so much for the notebook paper for our classroom! We are so thankful for your generous donation. This will be a great help to us as we are preparing for our state writing tests! Mrs. M's Class

Dear Sir and Lady, We are so happy for the supplies you sent us. We only had one pencil left in our writing center. Thank you.

Dearest Donor, On behalf of myself and my students, I can't begin to thank you enough for the wonderful surprise I received today. And, such great timing too! Today we actually ran out of the many pencils I had purchased for my students. I was sure that I had at least 30 at the beginning of this week alone. I can't wait to show my kids all of the goodies they've received and look forward to them sharing their thankfulness with you. Much thanks and appreciation for everything!! Have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season!! Ms. K

Dear person who gave us things. Thank you so much for the erasers, pencils, and markers. We really needed the pencils very bad.

Put a smile on someone’s face today.

Supplies sent to over 18,000 students!

2010-01-01T10:04:00.010-05:00

Happy New Year!!

2009 was the first full year of operations for Supply Our Schools. Although the economy was in a tailspin, donors around the country (in fact, around the world) found it in their hearts to help our nation's children succeed.

Because of the generosity of individual donors, Rotary Clubs across the country and the Venable Foundation, Supply Our Schools was able to send supplies to teachers with over 18,000 students around the country.

Here's hoping we can send out even more supplies in 2010!

NB: Our commitment is to use 100% of the money we get to buy school supplies. And, since SOS is a 501(c)3, all donations made to us are tax deductible.

Thank you for the big crayons that aren't broken.

2009-10-28T11:01:00.000-04:00

In Northern Virginia, where my family and I live, parents of school kids pay extra for pencils, bags, markers, notebooks, etc. that have Spiderman, Dora or what ever the "in" licensed character is.

In many other parts of the country, children are just happy to have "crayons that are not broken." That's what an elementary school student in Ohio said when Supply Our Schools sent her classroom some new crayons. It really puts our lives in perspective.

If you want to give kids crayons that are not broken, find a classroom and buy some supplies now.

Double your supplies!

2009-09-22T14:22:00.000-04:00

On the occasion of Diwali, some of members of the Indian community have donated money to SOS to be used as a matching grant! For every dollar of supplies that a donor buys from your Supply List, the matching grant will be used to buy another dollar of supplies for your classroom. Each teacher can earn up to $100.00 of supplies from the matching grant!

This program will start Wednesday, Sept 23, 2009 and last until Diwali (Oct 17, 2009) or until we use up all the matching grant money, whichever comes first.

So, use Ms Borg’s tips to get your supply list filled and the matching grant will double the supplies you get!
http://www.supplyourschools.org/Blog/2009/08/tips-for-success-from-fellow-teacher_27.html

Thank you for everything you do,
Radhika

These kids rock!

2009-09-06T14:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I got a wonderful surprise in the mail. Sitting amidst all the junk mail was a thick manila envelope from Mississippi. I opened it and out came a huge stack of thank you notes made by the 2nd grade class of Mrs. Phillips.

I wanted to share some of the wonderful illustrations these children made with the markers they recently received. If you want to help these awesome kids, get them something from their supply list.

Our mention in Edutopia.org

2009-09-02T05:49:00.001-04:00

Over the summer, the number of teachers who registered with Supply Our Schools has skyrocketed.

While looking through the site statistics, I saw that Edutopia.org mentioned us in an article about getting free school supplies.

Thank you, Edutopia for getting the word out!

Q&A: Listing Schools & "vetting" teachers

2009-08-30T10:55:00.009-04:00

In this post, I would like to answer two of the questions we are most often asked.

1. Principals and teachers from around the country having been asking us how Supply Our Schools decides which schools to include in our efforts.

It is simple, we get our list of schools from the NCES database. If a school is not listed on the Supply Our Schools website, see if you can find it on this page: http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schooLSearch/.

The NCES database is updated from time to time, so it might just be a case of SOS needing to update our records.

2. Donors often ask us how we "vet" teachers. I.e., they want to know if the teachers who have built Supply Lists are legitimate.

There is a simple answer to this: most people are honest and good and will not abuse a system like Supply Our Schools. Invariably, there are some people who will not act honorably, but as Gandhiji said, "Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." Supply Our Schools relies on this reality.

On a more commercial note, there really isn't a thriving black market for crayons and copies of the Hound of Baskervilles. The fact is, there is little profit to be had from scamming this particular system.

That said, there is a loose framework that helps reduce the likelihood of abuse.

First, Donors have a choice of which teacher they would like to buy supplies for. Each teacher has the opportunity to write a Profile, which is a little write-up about themselves and their classrooms. These profiles provide quite a bit of insight into the teachers' experiences and passion for teaching.

Second, Donors have a choice of which supplies to buy for any teacher. One potential donor was in a lather about the huge number of USB drives a teacher had requested. The fact is, if you think a classroom does not need USB drives, then don't buy them. It is as simple as that.

Third, Supply Our Schools ships all supplies directly to the school and we use a tracking system to determine when the package was delivered and who signed for it. It is hard to scam a system if you have to get your packages from the school administration office.

Finally, next to every teacher's name is listed the number of donations they have received and the acknowledgments they have written. As with the Teacher Profiles, these thank you notes provide a lot of insight.

Hopefully, this explanation helped a bit. If not, let me know.

Enjoy your Sunday!
Radhika

Tips from a teacher

2009-08-27T13:29:00.001-04:00

One of our teachers has had great success in getting donors to buy items for her classroom. I asked her to share her tips for success. She has very generously shared her advice:

From Ms Borg, Middle School Science Teacher, Massachusetts

My success on www.supplyourschools.org is a simple story. Once I registered, I told three people I knew well in our administration building. I knew they had connections with more people district- wide than I did. After I received my first shipment, SOS sent me an email that I could forward to friends and family. I added a personal note about the supplies I had already received and sent it to everyone I knew. Since then, it has been word of mouth. I tell people, "Guess what I did today!" I have helped two teachers register and walked other curious friends through the website. They are amazed by the response. Several friends have said they will shop through the website and my email has crossed at least five states that I know of and is still going.

I opened two boxes at school this week. Every time I open an email from SOS that says I have another shipment coming, I cry. When one of the administrative assistants saw all the supplies I had received from an anonymous donor, she immediately sent off a mass email to all the staff in the building. We have had an SOS explosion in Worcester, MA. Now, I am reaching out to my contacts on Facebook.

I think the most important thing I did was to be sincere. On my homepage, I wrote about the school and the students. I think donors want to know more than just how many students you have and what subject you teach. When I talk about SOS I am passionate because that is how I am about teaching. When people can hear and feel your emotions in your writing and your voice they will respond.

My students arrive on September 3. I am excited to show them all of the great things I have for them that were made possible through the support of donors. It isn't often that strangers give them things without expecting something in return.

Sometimes, it can be very frustrating as teacher, but in the end, it is all worth it.

Fundraiser on Sept 11 in Ashburn, VA

2009-08-26T08:13:00.001-04:00

Last night, after watching Mama Mia outdoors in Bethesda, MD, my mom told me that it seemed like my whole life revolves around school supplies. Well, it does. So, without further ado, let me tell you about our next fundraising event.

SOS is having a Spirit Night on Sept 11, 4:30 to 9:00 pm at Brambleton Town Center in Ashburn, Virginia.

Johnny Rockets: 703.327.9255; present the attached flyer (/SOS%20Spirit%20Night%20Sept%2011.pdf) to the cashier and 10% of your purchase will be given to Supply Our Schools

Color me Mine: 703-957-4020; mention Supply Our Schools to the cashier and 15% of your purchase will be given to us!

As always, 100% of the money given to SOS will be used to buy school supplies.

Please forward this information to your friends in Ashburn, Virginia.

Thanks!

Radhika

One year anniversary!

2009-08-23T10:34:00.000-04:00

SOS crossed a huge milestone yesterday! We celebrated our one year anniversary!

And what a year it has been! We have 150 teachers on our site who have created Supply Lists. We have sent out supplies to almost 4,000 students. That's an average of 10 students per day who we have helped!

We couldn't have done it without our fabulous teachers who care so much for their students. Like Ms H in Oklahoma who writes this inspiring note:

I am a special education teacher for students 9th though 12th, in a high-need community. Sadly, being both impoverished as well as deserving special services are two strikes against against the students that I come in contact with everyday. Not only do they come from homes that barely make it everyday. Most of the students that I teach have to work just to help at home and the little extras like pencils and pens are not included in their expenses. My students do not have the ability to pay for the necessary items needed in the classroom, therefore many times to save face they just will not come to school. The help that you give not only changes my life, but the life of many students. Many students that otherwise would not have the means to do well in school remove out. Just think your donation could be the reason that just one student stayed in and completed school!

And, we couldn't have made it this far without our fabulous donors. Like Michele E. who buys supplies for other children when her own child gets presents. And Dorli B. who buys supplies in honor of her mother. And Brenda B. who buys supplies for kids just because.

And, we couldn't have done it without our great team. Pooja Sharma, who has built a most beautiful and elegant website for Supply Our Schools; Devika Gupta, who signed on to be a director based solely on her belief in our mission; Jodi Scholes, who has brought her passion for education to her role as director; Kelley Westenhoff, who writes articles for us, blogs about us and tells everyone she knows about SOS!

So, thank you one and all for making Supply Our Schools a success in ints first year of operations!

Why am I up at 4:00 am?

2009-08-05T03:43:00.000-04:00

School starts in just a couple of weeks and we have 10,000 students who need school supplies. So, I am up at 4:00 am trying to figure out where to get the money to buy these kids paper, pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, library books,...

My three year old son has no idea what I am trying to do. The other day I tried to explain it to him. I told him that some children did not have paper and pencils and stuff to do crafts and drawing with. So, I try to get these things to the kids. So, my son wants to know why their mummies and daddies don't buy stuff for their kids. I told him that not everyone had the money to buy things. A little while later, my son came to me with 3 coins his dad had given him the day before. He said that I could give his money to the mummies and daddies to buy stuff for their children.

I wish my son's sentiments could indeed translate into supplies for all the kids who need them. Maybe, maybe...

PS: Happy Birthday, Neil Armstrong!

Buy supplies as gifts!

2009-05-14T12:11:00.000-04:00

Did you know you can buy school supplies for students as a gift to someone you love?

Nowadays, all of us are looking for ways to make a difference in the world. We are trying to consume less and do more. More and more of us are eschewing traditional gifts and asking our friends and loved ones to do something meaningful with their money.

Supply Our Schools is a perfect way to do that. With Supply Our Schools, you know exactly what you are buying, you know which teacher and school you are sending the supplies to and, best of all, so does your loved one.

If you send supplies to a classroom in the name of your loved one, they will receive an email telling them
what you donated and to which school. When the kids get the crayons, pencils, paper, what ever you sent them, you and your loved one will get the thank you notes from the teacher and the kids.

Giving someone the gift of a good education is a great way to celebrate your love and will put a smile on your face everytime you think of what you have done.