The Foundation’s New Teachers Warehouse Provides Free Supplies and Equipment to Teachers

The Foundation's Teachers Warehouse, www.okckids.com/tw, had to expand in its first month of operations to include an off-site storage room seen here before a donation by a local business closing its office.

After a donation from one local business, the off-site storage room for The Foundation’s Teachers Warehouse, www.okckids.com/tw, was filled with supplies and equipment available free to Oklahoma City Public Schools teachers.

Oklahoma City – Imagine your boss expecting you to pay $500 or more a year to provide the supplies you use every day at your job. It wouldn’t take long for you to start looking for a new job. That’s not an option for Oklahoma City’s dedicated teachers. In spite of a rising cost of living, teachers continue to spend their own money to get the basic supplies they need to teach. The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools is changing this with the introduction of their new Teachers Warehouse.

The Teachers Warehouse, www.okckids.com/tw, is an online exchange providing free classroom supplies and equipment to Oklahoma City Public Schools teachers. Items listed on the exchange are donated by local businesses and community members. Teachers simply browse the free online catalog to find the supplies they need, click a button to request an item and then schedule a pick-up time with The Foundation. It's that easy.

"This is an amazing opportunity for community members to support schools in ways they might never imagine," commented Heather Sparks, Oklahoma City Public Schools 2008 District Teacher of the Year. "This also supports the three R's of environmental stewardship…reduce, reuse, recycle. These donated items have tremendous potential to impact classroom learning in limitless ways."

In a 2007 Survey, Edutopia found that more than one-half of teachers spend more than $500 or more a year of their own paychecks on classroom supplies. One in every three teachers spends more than $1,000 a year. First-year teachers spend up to 40% more to establish their classrooms from scratch (Quality Education Data, Inc, 2001). With a starting salary of $31,000 in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, a significant percentage of a first-year teacher’s salary is often put right back into the school system to create a learning environment for students.

The purpose of the Teachers Warehouse is to turn donations from local businesses into classroom materials and teaching tools. From coveted basic supplies such as paper and file folders to misprinted pizza boxes that found their final purpose as art portfolios, businesses might not even recognize the treasures they could bestow on a teacher. With the Teachers Warehouse, everyone wins. Businesses gain, because materials that they would otherwise warehouse or pay to haul away become tax-deductible donations that are recycled to support students, while teachers rein in out-of-pocket expenses and have one less barrier to coping with mounting pressures to raise test scores, explained Robyn Hilger, The Foundation's Program Director.

Items on the Teachers Warehouse range from furniture and classroom decorations to office supplies and dry-erase boards to computer systems and televisions. Each week The Foundation adds new items to the Teachers Warehouse as donations are processed. "If a teacher doesn’t find the supplies they need when they visit the Teachers Warehouse the first-time, they should check back soon," commented Hilger. "Thanks to the support of our generous community, we have new donations coming in all the time."

Earlier this month, The Foundation received a phone call from a local business offering to donate the supplies from their office that was closing. One moving van later, the Teachers Warehouse had more than doubled in size expanding from one, on-site Teachers Warehouse to the warehouse and an off-site storage facility. "We'’re still processing this generous donation, packaging many of the items into 'Teacher Desk Sets' that include things like scissors, tape dispensers, highlighters, sticky-notes and more," said Hilger. "I know one of the most popular items for teachers is going to be the paper that we’ve already added to the Teachers Warehouse. Teachers never have enough paper in the classroom."

"The Foundation is most in need of a volunteer group to organize, inventory and pick-up supplies to get donations in the hands of teachers who need it," said Hilger. If you or your organization would like to help, call The Foundation at (405) 879-2007.

Those who wish to make a donation can notify The Foundation by visiting the Teachers Warehouse, www.okckids.com/tw, and clicking on the "Donate Supplies" link or by calling The Foundation at (405) 879-2007. Since The Foundation is a nonprofit organization, donations to the Teachers Warehouse may be considered tax deductible contributions. Those interested in this added benefit should contact their CPA or tax attorney.