One of the most charitable things a person could do is to invest in the classrooms in their communities. A lot of my friends and family aren't aware that there are plenty of places where they can help support teachers and their students through online donations. These donations can be financial, but by simply offering gently used items like children's books, furniture, play kitchens and the like really help alleviate the cost that many teachers use out of their very own paychecks and pockets.
Tomorrow I officially start my very first days as an EAK teacher - setting up my classroom the best I can and attending staff development in attempts to feel prepared for when 20 four year olds arrive next week when class resumes. However excited as I am for this new adventure in my teaching career, I have accepted a position that has little to no funding and in order to offer my students the learning experiences they deserve, especially living in a low-income community, I need the resources to do just that.
With that being said, as we all ring in the new year and set new goals for ourselves, I ask for you to consider supporting just one classroom this year - even if it isn't mine. Your support will mean so much to that teacher because it means they're making their curriculum more accessible to their students.
Here are a couple of ways you can help support a classroom in your own community or the teacher friend or loved one in your life!
Donations of gently used toys or materials
Especially working with such a young age-group, teachers of preschool or even kindergarten need play items for their students like blocks, Legos, dress-up clothes, and other toys that could be used for play, centers, or recess. We all know that children's toys can cost an upwards of hundreds of dollars brand new, so donating these items to a local teacher can really help them build or enhance their classrooms.
Donate locally
Donors Choose
One of my favorite online fundraising websites for educators is Donors Choose. I've used them previously when I taught in VA and love that the organization has grown and you can see their influence in everyday classrooms across the country. Major businesses and companies are now partnering with Donors Choose by matching donations! Just recently I had a project completely funded because an organization was doubling donations for basic resources for my classroom!
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| Support our class on Donors Choose! |
You can simply look up your state and see what classrooms need support in your local area. I love finding those projects that need just $25-$100 more dollars to be completely funded and donate to them. It is a special thing to see that complete strangers (or often other teachers!) are donating to your project simply because they believe in supporting the educators in their state or district.
Any project that is fully funded is ordered directly from the retailers that the teacher selected, then the items are shipped directly to the school. All items purchased through Donors Choose then becomes the property of the school, not the teacher. So, in a way you're supporting other teachers at that school too!
This happens to be one of the easiest ways you can support a teacher this year and if you're interested in keeping up with the various projects that need support in my classroom, feel free to pop on over to my Donors Choose page! Just your consideration means the world to me and my students!
Go Fund Me
You can also check out GoFundMe, which is another popular fundraising website that teachers use to raise money for various projects. The difference between this platform and Donors Choose is that the money donated is directly deposited to the teacher. This is a great option when you want to donate to a specific person you know! I have a number of teacher friends who whose GoFundMe to help raise money for their classrooms to buy materials and resources.
Fair pricing for teachers
Facebook Marketplace has recently been a great place to find everyday people selling their stuff - and a lot of things I could use for my classroom! However, the problem lies in that for that play kitchen they want almost what they paid retail for and after messaging them to explain my situation, they're unwilling to negotiate or offer any fair pricing for teachers.
Look, I understand when we want to sell our old stuff, and items that we paid quite a bit for, we want a little bit of a return. I totally get it! However, I just want everyone to consider that when selling an item and the person interested is a teacher looking for items for their classrooms, be willing to at least negotiate a price that is fair considering that teacher is already purchasing things for their classroom elsewhere and out of their own pockets. We greatly appreciate that!
Donating is tax deductible!
Not only does it feel good to support teachers, it's also financially beneficial to you come tax season! Because donations to fundraiser platforms like Donors Choose are considered charitable donations, each donation you make is 100% tax deductible! So, keep track of your donations and present them when filling out your taxes for 2018.
However, be aware that using other crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe to support teachers aren't guaranteed to be tax deductible because the IRS considers it to be a "personal gift" not a "charitable donation"- but I'm sure you can bring this up to your tax professional and see if your donations qualify.
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No matter what you decide or how you choose to support a teacher this year, the fact is is that you're doing it! There are so many causes to give to and spread the word about, but year after year teachers are often left behind because there's little support in education policy in general. So, without getting too political here, I just encourage each and every one of you to consider supporting just one local teacher in 2019. If you can support two or make recurring donations all year long that's even more amazing!
I wish everyone such a happy New Year and a prosperous 2019!
