School supplies at the click of a mouse

Shopping online has become the norm. We purchase shoes, clothes, and even groceries through the immediate power of the internet. Cyber Monday has created that extra incentive to get the best deals on our holiday shopping since many of us now won’t brave the in-store madness that is Black Friday.

In this current high-speed world, ordering whatever we need online is essential to our daily lives. It affords us time; more time spent doing the important work we do to make the world go round and more quality time with our families.

Teachers deserve the same benefits that we all take for granted. They are the early risers who are shaping the lives of our children. They are usually the last to leave the “office,” taking their time to tutor those students who need and deserve that extra assistance. They are serving our community; 8,600 Orange County Public School teachers are educating nearly 133,000 high-need students who come from families who can’t afford school supplies.

Paying tribute to A Gift For Teaching’s longtime mascot, Pencil Boy Online has become a viable resource to 300 teachers each month. The online free store affords the opportunity to select much needed school supplies for low-income students and have the order delivered directly to their school. In its inaugural year, more than 1,000 teachers placed online orders, impacting their 20,000 high-need students. The distribution of this additional $440,000 worth of free school supplies directly contributed to the impressive 20 percent growth in distribution that A Gift For Teaching experienced in the 2015-16 school year.

How does it work? On the third Monday of each month, teachers can begin browsing the available items and placing their orders. Volunteer groups, like those from Disney, Universal Orlando and Banana Republic, then navigate the A Gift For Teaching warehouse to fill the orders, always checking those lists twice. The Orange County Public Schools Courier Service then fills up their trucks and transports the orders directly to the schools. The result: a relieved teacher with a classroom full of happy children.

Partnerships make Pencil Boy Online possible. Support from Equinix, Disney, SunTrust Foundation, and Westgate Resorts Foundation, to name a few, have provided the means for AGFT to keep this convenient way of shopping going this school year. But as the need grows, so does the demand. AGFT and this generous community must work each day to ensure that teachers and their students can access the tools they need all year long.

It may not be Amazon Prime just yet, but it’s a click of the mouse in the right direction.

A Gift For Teaching is Central Florida’s primary provider of free school supplies to teachers for their students in need, enabling them to succeed in school and life. A nonprofit organization that serves 369 public schools in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, AGFT has distributed more than $100 million worth of school supplies – including essential classroom tools such as pencils, notebooks, glue, backpacks, art supplies and books – to local students in need since 1998. Visit agiftforteaching.org