Friday, December 21, 2007

DonorsChoose.org

I saw this on 20/20 tonight. Unfortunately there are many teachers in this country who lack basic supplies in the classroom. A teacher featured on 20/20 had to use her old socks to erase the board in the classroom because she didn't even have erasers. While many teachers are creative and resourceful, this lack of supplies does affect the education their students receive. Now, what if there was a way to connect classrooms in need with people who want to help? There is! It's called DonorsChoose.org.

Teachers submit proposals for projects they want to do with their class. They detail the project and all the supplies needed. The projects are then listed on the website. People can search through the projects and choose to fund all or part of the projects that interest them. Once a project is funded, the people at Donors Choose package all the supplies and send them to the teacher, along with a disposable camera for him or her to document the project as the students learn. At the end of the project, donors who either give a partial donation of $100 or more or who made the final donation to complete a project receive a feedback package that contains thank you cards from the students, pictures, and an impact letter from the teacher, to see just how their donation helped that class.

It's sad that schools and teachers don't have all the supplies needed to provide their students the best education possible. I think this is a great idea that will hopefully make a difference. So far, 50.961 donors have funded 39,360 classroom projects and supported 892.775 students. (See Detailed Results)

1 comment:

  1. I just want to wish you and your family a very merry christmas and a happy new year...things are getting pretty busy around here and I don't know if I will get a chance later to wish you a joyous time with your family.

    Happy Holidays Anna
    carrie

    ReplyDelete

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