School's In!
A new school year is upon us. The days leading up to the first day of school are filled with anticipation for most kids as they look forward to seeing their friends again. But for many children and their parents it’s a very stressful time. Children in underserved communities are often unprepared for the new school year. They are not able to afford the supplies that are needed and their teachers are in the same boat. Schools in underserved districts are not able to provide the basic necessities for these children. It’s not uncommon for the teachers to pay for the supplies out of their own pockets.
If your donation budget is small but your desire to give is big, consider holding a school supplies drive. Ask your employees to donate supplies and partner with a local non-profit to help distribute the donations to a school or schools in need. Organizations like United Way have programs that focus on collecting and distributing school supplies to districts in need of assistance.
Tips:
- Call the non-profit ahead of time and arrange for a day/time to deliver the supplies
- Ask if your employees can go along with the non-profit to deliver the supplies. The benefits of this are twofold:
- It makes for a great volunteer day
- Employees feel personally connected to the cause when they see the impact their donations make in the lives of these families
- Provide a list of supplies for your employees as a guide. This will take the guesswork out of shopping and make the whole process go a lot smoother.
A school supplies drive is an example of an activity that costs little or no money for your company but has a big impact in the community. Add in a volunteer day, and you’ve got a great team building event that boosts engagement. A win on every level!
