school on wheels

finally went through all the donations for the school on wheels drive which ended two weeks ago. my uncle came back from taiwan so i didn't have a lot of floor space for sorting.

in any case, i think the drive was a pretty big success! in addition to having a lot of stuff in general, we have a good variety. btw, the photo doesn't show everything. i left a lot of the smaller things in the backpacks.

unlike with shoes or glasses, school supplies aren't easy to count up. so my didn't count every little thing. just the easier stuff.

15 backpacks!!!
32 legal pads
7 composition books
37 spiral notebooks
7 "other" notebooks
6 packs liner paper
21 folders
21 binders
6 sets index cards
2 index card boxes (with rings)
16 post-it pads
1 set math flashcards
9 math supplies (rulers, compasses, protractors)
10 calculators!

3 jump drives
1 day planner
7 pairs of scissors
6 tape dispensers / refill rolls
20 glue sticks
5 bottles of glue
2 staplers 
5 boxes of crayons
7 boxes of markers
4 boxes of colored pencils
6 pencil boxes / pouches
assorted staples, paperclips, binder clips, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, pens, highlighters, sheet protectors, book covers, dividers...

thanks to everyone who contributed. big shout out to those pearl and arlene from space who went out and bought tons of stuff to donate. and to emilio (also from space), who donated 6 backpacks full of binders and writing stuff!

school supply drive

this year i decided to do school supplies for my annual drive. below is the announcement i asked to be put into my dragon boating team's weekly email.

"It's that time again, when students start heading back to school. But do you know that many families cannot afford even basic classroom supplies? School on Wheels provides one-on-one tutoring for homeless children and they run entirely on volunteer support and donations.

"Stephanie will be collecting school supplies for for the month of August. Your donations will be put into backpacks and distributed by School on Wheels to kids in need in the Long Beach area. So the next time you go to Target or Office Supply, please pick up a pack of pencils or notebook paper!

"For a full list of needed supplies, please see the Student Wish List. You can also email Stephanie for more details of the drive. Thanks!"

originally i was wanted to do something for teachers or maybe for a long beach school district, but i found  school on wheels online and thought that it sounded like a great organization. they get no govt support and everything they do / get is thru donations.

btw, cool coincidence, after i emailed the above to my captains to be included in the weekly email, a captain messaged back saying that she's been volunteering thru school on wheels for the last 4-5 years. isn't she awesome? :)

and one wednesday after practice, a PINK came up to me and said her husband is on the school on wheels board. small world!

btw, if you're interested in donating things, i've extended the drive thru the end of september since i've been missing a lot of practices lately.