It's that time of year again. Lets make some teachers and their students' day!
15School starts locally in 2 weeks, although I know in some areas it doesn’t start until after Labor Day. My mom was a kindergarten teacher and I know each year she spend hundreds of of her own dollars to buy things needed for the classroom and kids. I grew up in a family that didn’t have much money but this was a priority because of the impact things like this make on little kids.
Last year collectively we funded a number of teachers looking for money for supplies, projects, etc. for their classroom. If you want to see last year’s thread, see:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/please-give-money-to-buy-books-for-poor-kids--or-dont--up-to-you?sort=most-likes
Maybe we can band together again this year, pick teachers and projects that appeal to us, post them, and then collective fund them?
Site it here: https://www.donorschoose.org
If you want to participate this year follow this thread. If you want please a donation request that appeals to you. Post it below. Lets see how many we can fund over the next couple of months. If we have just a few posted at once we can fund them, the original poster/someone who goes to donate and finds it is fully funded (they only get the money if it is fully funded by the deadline), can post it is funded, and we can then move on to the next one.
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I know first hand that extra projects/enrichment opportunities can create interests in kids. As a 5th grader I created a stink that only the boys were being publicly invited to take part in an after school science program. I made a big deal about how this wasn’t fair to the girls. The school relented and allowed me to participate. That once a week program was eye opening for me and created a life long love of science.
To kick this off here is a partly funded project for STEM experiences on a Native American Indian Reservation. Usually economic conditions on reservations are grim, schools, social services, etc. are underfunded, teachers are are on the lower end the range for what teachers get paid (thus can even less afford buying stuff like this out of their own pockets) and the kids have a lot of challenges to overcome.
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/native-americans-and-stem-exploration/2570889/
This is a very worthy project, and (currently, at least) Tom’s of Maine is matching donations, which means it would only take $200 and change to fully fund this worthy project. I’ll check back later to see if anyone else has climbed on the bandwagon.
@Kidsandliz A good pick. I pitched in a bit on this one and picked a few that were reading related.
If I spend too much time on that site, I would bankrupt myself (similar to this site).
@fibrs86 Feel free to post the ones you found. Last time a variety of people posted ones and I think we managed to fully fund each and every one someone posted.
If there are any teachers on meh who have something listed there please let us know so we can fund you!
@Shrdlu Looks like all they need is 1/2 of $168 to reach their goal (since there is still donation matching going on).
@fibrs86 Thanks for donating.
@Kidsandliz All funded now. :-} Find another project, folks. There’s always a need.
@Shrdlu Cool. The people of meh made someone’s day!
not sure I grasp why there is some kind of sign in process.
why can’t I just paypal them some $$ and be done with it?
I have the sinking feeling that I am going to end up on some kind of sucker list getting endless emails of worthy causes.
@ekw please paypal maximum funds to my spouse’s account, they is a mathematics teacher at a high school where they also have ell responsibility (english language learner, a.k.a. esl - english as a second language, a.k.a. recent immigrants) in an urban school in the detroit area.
i promise i will never email you for another donation, nor will they - but i will send u a Meh. fuku bag, gratis
don’t replace mymehusername with anything, like it’s some kind of math variable or constant or something, just type it
/giphy just type it
There isn’t a required sign in, or even sign up. I gave money anonymously, just now, and it went smoothly (they did ask if I would like the students to send thank you notes, and I declined to be identified). I did use a credit care, rather than paypal, because I trust Amex more than anyone.
@Shrdlu how odd. when I went there before for the Native American STEM project, it kept circle jerking me.
I’d put in an amount, then when I get to check out, it would say my cart is empty.
so I thought it was because I would not sign in.
now I see that project is fully funded, so maybe someone had already completed it while I was putting in my donation?
in any case, I see now when looking at one of the projects below that it will go to checkout w/o problem.
thanks for the heads up.
@ekw Yep. When I was invoked, last, I funded the rest. It’s known that I have a soft heart, now and then. Especially for teachers.
I donated anonymously on AMEX also - went through fine.
I’ve done this before, and I generally look for those looking for basic stuff. Sure iPads are great, but those are not the best use of funds overall if you are really needy.
Here is a good example of one that looks for basics:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/shared-reading-with-big-books/2513262/
and another
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/reading-and-math-activities-for-ell-stud/2656613/
and another
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/building-bridges-through-books/2654691/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/school-supplies-for-every-child/2606244/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/celebrating-diversity-through-books/2560543/
ok i’m done
these all would be very easy to finish off with just a few dollars from a few people
@Cerridwyn Thanks for posting those. I also tend to screen for basics or for experiences for kids in poorer school districts/areas that they’d otherwise never have and desperately need (like the one I posted since many, but certainly not all, reservations tend to resemble 3rd world conditions).
@Kidsandliz Very much so, except out where they have a ton of casino money. Have and have not with tribes in those areas.
Discovered this site many years ago from my daughter who was giving back to a teacher she had had (we didn’t live in the richest school district back in the day).
Another thought in there, look where you went to school!
But wanting tech is all well and good, but if you are looking for high tech white boards, or a chunk of iPads you have the basics where some of these other schools don’t
@Cerridwyn That is so true. Basics have to come first.
@Cerridwyn I was lucky to be the one completing that first project you listed. Yay!
@sligett You rock
@Cerridwyn the first one on your list is now funded!
@Cerridwyn YEA!!! All of these are now fully funded. Way to go meh!
@baqui63 in case you missed it we are picking up your efforts from last year. Also known (as in posted that they donated) donors from last year @narfcake @magic_cave @CaptAmehrican @RiotDemon @dashcloud @mzsooze @ConAndLibrarian @f00l @Confusedkitty @AnnaB @djslack @mick @mikibell
Bah! I’ve gone off teachers…
(Just kidding… @miraclewhispers will soon be a certified Math teacher for grades 7-12.)
I will get involved again by the weekend.
@baqui63 take your meds - lol
/youtube just kidding
Here is another interesting basic one for refuge families:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/warmth-care-and-hunger-a-whole-new-wo/2506840/
(expires on the 28th!)
here are some about food! and basic hygiene
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/snacks-on-the-go/2623495/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/overcome-hunger-to-tackle-learning/2630600/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/basic-needs-clean-water-food-and-tool/2626485/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/eating-healthy-and-keeping-little-teeth/2645223/
(These always make me sad)
@Cerridwyn First one is fully funded!
@Kidsandliz I need to shut up with my personal ones that search only in California. Some people from elsewhere need to put their 2 cents in.
@Cerridwyn Yup be nice if others posted what they are interested in… since they are not - at least not yet - then at least we have some unfunded ones posted. Heck three teachers have their needed stuff so far. How cool is that? In my opinion it is the need that is important, not where they live unless that impacts the need in some way.
@Cerridwyn The first 3 of these are now fully funded!!
I have picked some from Florida.
Needing supplies to help learn math:
(Donations doubled for both of these)
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/manipulating-math-matters/2599028/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/making-math-matter/2650167/
Art supplies:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/nurturing-future-artists/2571356/
The first one is fully funded!
@RiotDemon The second is fully funded as well. The third has (so far) zero funding.
@Shrdlu had a feeling that would happen. The ones with donor matches seem to fund fairly quickly.
Plus, I suppose art supplies aren’t as necessary in most people’s eyes.
TL;DR my spouse teaches high school kids, as a mathematics teacher in a high school where they also have ell responsibility (english language learner, a.k.a. esl - english as a second language, a.k.a. recent immigrants) in an urban school in the detroit area. we pay for supplies like pencils and notepads and batteries every year exceeding $300/yr.
/youtube school supplies
/8ball if you build it will they come?
My reply is no
@Yoda_Daenerys Tell your spouse to make a page and then post it here so people can fund it.
@Kidsandliz thx, i’ll suggest that and hopefully come back with a link.
@Yoda_Daenerys well, we almost have the project submitted
Howdy!
I live in rural Northern California- which, you would think is chock full of primo first-world amenities like the surrounding counties. Nope! Here’s schools around my county that are listed: https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?state=CA&cityName=Lakeport&countyName=Lakecounty&includeNearbyLocations=true
Thank you! PS- Meh, don’t ya have a bunch of headphones you can send to Burns Valley School?
@kathologist C’mon folks. Not a single change in any of the requests. Lake County, CA has higher rates of poverty than most other counties in CA.
@kathologist Two are now funded, and I’ll pick out one for direct attention.
Spanish language books, $169 needed, donations are currently doubled ($85 to complete):
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/spanish-books-for-bilingual-scholars/2665394/?cachebust=1501506855114
@fibrs86 Thank you! I had also posted on FB…and heard crickets…Thanks everyone for showing the love!
@fibrs86 This one’s fully funded! Hooray!
so
/giphy who’s next
on the last batch on the memo i put meh.com sent me
/giphy muhaha
@Cerridwyn Why don’t you just pick one from the bunch listed above and that one can be worked on next. Probably it would make the most sense if we worked our way down a list to make sure that each project actually got fully funded.
@Kidsandliz i’m not so good at that.
please go ahead and pick one or two and say ‘let’s fund these first’ I can never focus on only one thing at a time, but always have so many fires going that it makes mordor look frozen.
I teach at a school that DonorsChoose calls “highest need” / “highest poverty” (they recently re-worded their site to be more PC)
I had my own DC project fully funded last year. As a teacher that was directly impaced by DC, I am eternally grateful to those of you who choose to contribute to such projects.
Thank you for making a difference in the education of our students and in our future. “Students make up less than 20% of our population, 0% of our voters, but they are 100% of our future.”
If I may suggest one:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/basic-needs-for-all/2636496/
Hygiene and First Aid supplies for 150 high school students. Currently $276 from completion, but donations are doubled. Thanks!
All Funded!
@fibrs86 Good job mehonites
Dude. What? I’ve been teaching for 5 years and never knew this was a thing. Omg i need this so bad!
@studerc So go make a page and post it here so we can fund it!
@Kidsandliz For sure! Working on it right now!
@studerc And???
@studerc Knives, wine glasses, and Bluetooth speakers for each of your students! Finally.
@Kidsandliz he hasn’t posted yet – or at least not under his last name!! Lots of Studer teachers!
@studerc Now would be a good time to post your project. I SAID, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME.
So we have 3 left that have been posted so far that are not yet fully funded. We have 2 meh members (or spouses) who are looking into creating them (please post when they are up)… what are some additional ones that appeal to people? Please post them.
@Kidsandliz you are doing so much good!
/youtube so much good
@Yoda_Daenerys Nope I am not doing so much good - the folks who are donating are and @baqui63 who brought this site to our attention last year. I just reminded people about it this year.
@Kidsandliz Hi, there is a lot of info on this page and I’m tired and whiney, are any of these three projects still not funded? Have the meh members posted somewhere that I may have missed in my scrolling? We are using the link you provided in the original post, correct? Sorry, seems like so many great folks have provided information on programs but I’d like to be able to help fund one we’ve done as a group. Its the easiest way for me to decide which way to donate.
@mehbee
The two meh members have not yet posted their links
Clicking though all of the ones posted, here are the ones still not funded as of 6am 8/2:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/basic-needs-clean-water-food-and-tool/2626485/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/eating-healthy-and-keeping-little-teeth/2645223/
Art supplies:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/nurturing-future-artists/2571356/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/ti-82s-no-more/2557031/
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/building-blocks-for-a-better-futurepiece/2670454/?challengeid=20968044
Also, If you choose to help out, add the promo code LIFTOFF at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $50 for the next 7 days.
Then two people just did a search and listed the outcome:
There are a handful here looking for pencils
https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=Pencils&sortBy=2
These are all the ones in someone’s county (poor county) that are listed
https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?state=CA&cityName=Lakeport&countyName=Lakecounty&includeNearbyLocations=true
Someone’s company is getting kids backpacks
http://blog.mybluegrace.com/bluegrace-logistics/all-hands-on-deck-for-2017-backpacks-of-hope/
@mehbee
here is @studerc’s (also scroll down to read more)
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/sustainable-living-and-learning/2673784/
Has this thread died already?
Come on Mehricans, Mehrinites and Mediocritans, you can do it
@Cerridwyn we are waiting for @studerc to post his link…and I need to figure out the other family member links!
@mikibell mine is one, butt
@Yoda_Daenerys k…please post link when you are done extracting!
I’ve contributed to a couple people while waiting for Mehers to get set up. You can search on Donorschoose for an item an fund people looking for such. e.g. here’s a search for pencils sorted by cost to fund.
https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=Pencils&sortBy=2
@sligett some added to a few of these
almost out of my budget for them this year, saving the rest for our mehers.
@sligett finally here is @studerc’s (also scroll down to read more)
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/sustainable-living-and-learning/2673784/
Going for a different take:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/ti-82s-no-more/2557031/
Low income school looking for graphing calculators.
Texas Instruments, for those that don’t know, is a horrible, horrible monopoly that has severely restricted high school standardized testing - and thus most college options, and thus most options towards a better income - to those who can afford an ancient $100 calculator they may not even use after those tests are over. Schools will rent them out to the best of their ability, but that does take money and effort.
I taught community college and tutored high school math in my teacher days. They’re horribly overpriced pedagogic tools, but they really do show up all over the place in an important life juncture (end of high school/early college).
I’ll give some to the ones left here and some to this.
I’m not sure how well this one fits in with what those who are donating are trying to achieve since it’s more of a “this will make things easier” than a "my students desperately need this to learn, but I’m going to share it anyway. This comes from the teacher my son had last year in 4th grade. She’s a wonderful teacher who really goes above and beyond to make learning fun for her kids (trust me when I say this; my daughter had a different teacher for 4th at the same school and the things they did were miles apart). We’re in WV, and while we aren’t in one of the state’s poorest counties, there is definitely poverty here and for many kids, there isn’t a lot of “fun” in or out of school. The club she’s starting will benefit the entire school, not just her class, and will not just be a “get together and play thing” if that makes sense. Anyway, if you feel led, check it out.
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/building-blocks-for-a-better-futurepiece/2670454/?challengeid=20968044
Also, If you choose to help out, add the promo code LIFTOFF at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $50 for the next 7 days.
A little humor. In WMT today, chatting with someone in line (I talk to everybody), she mentioned that this weekend is Florida’s ‘tax free weekend’ (no 6% state or 1% local sales tax). The cashier was new to the area, and listened in horror. It means that most computers, items on classroom supply lists — school uniform items, pencils, markers, crayons, paper and backpacks — will also be tax-free during the three-day weekend. The tax break includes clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $60 or less; and certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item. Sensible people stay home all weekend.
My wife is a teacher. I give her most of my money anyway. Thank you for pioneering this cause on behalf of teachers and students.
The company for which I work does BackPacks for Hope and crushes it each year.
http://blog.mybluegrace.com/bluegrace-logistics/all-hands-on-deck-for-2017-backpacks-of-hope/
edit
shamless plug
By the way and or on that note, masters of meh operations/ @dave, if you have any LTL or Truckload needs give me a jingle
For those that have been waiting for me to post I want to apolgize for the delay. There have been some logistical issues with Donors Choose, their vendors, and my school admins. The project is done and awaiting approval pending some backend work by Donors Choose.
Thanks for your support and patience I know my students and myself are very grateful.
@studerc
*Cough Cough
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/sustainable-living-and-learning/2673784/
For the first week, donations are doubled for the first $50 with promo LIFTOFF.
Thanks anyone and everyone for your help!
@studerc “Your donation will appear on this project once the project is approved by our team”
@studerc
Friends & family pre-funding
You’ve got a sneak peek of Mr. Studer’s project! Make a donation to Mr. Studer now, and we’ll apply it once the DonorsChoose.org team reviews this project.
Oh, cool… thought coupon code was for first donation!! phewww…
@mikibell its a collective $50 in thr firsr week. Already surpassed, you all are amazing.
@studerc we
you…
It’s live!
@studerc I gave some. I’m glad I remembered to come back. I was watching for this last week and almost forgot!
@looseneck Thanks so much for your support! My students are very excited for some unique learning opportunities this year!
Shameless plug. Two days left of prefunding bonuses. Use the code LIFTOFF to double your individual contribution up to $50.
Thanks so very much for your generosity and ongoing support, im truthfully speechless with the amazing support shown thus far!
@looseneck
@studrec Needs $218 to be fully funded. The rest of today (9th) and tomorrow (Wed the 10th) there are matching funds up to $50.Use the code LIFTOFF to double your individual contribution up to $50.
@studerc I forgot to use the code- I don’t suppose there’s a way of fixing that?
@studerc I love farming and animals and couldn’t resist the adorable picture of chicks. Kids need to learn about more than just computers.
@Barney I’ve had more than one person sing that to me
@sammydog01 unfortunately i dont believe so. If you created an account perhaps theres a list of donations and you may be able to cancel a donation and try again. Alas, i dont know. Regardless i genuinely appreciate any donation you provide! Thank you!
@looseneck I bet you have.
@studerc. Hurrraaayyy!
How’d I miss this?!
/giphy not official
/8ball is this official?
Very doubtful
@studerc’s is now live
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/sustainable-living-and-learning/2673784/
@studerc’s still has $432 to go - he is about 1/2 way there.
bump
@Kidsandliz thx liz, don’t hold ur breath
/youtube hold your breadth
/youtube do ya ELO
Yay!
One of the ones posted here expired, so I got some credit back. I put that credit here:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/our-2nd-graders-need-your-support-si-se/2793816/?challengeid=20967693
Books for low income bilingual students, needs under $50 to get over the finish line!
This is a bit different than the previous. School related but not class related so if not accepted let me know. It’s also on snap-raise and not donorschoose, but similar concept.
A friend of mine recently started a new school (Title 1 school) and was asked to Coach their middle school cross country team. They have both middle and high school teams under one umbrella.
They are hoping to raise funds to provide some various different things for the kids to help them become more of a team.
My friend’s mom posted this and I think it’s pretty descriptive and inclusive of some of the reasons behind it.
https://app.snap-raise.com/fundraisers/33263/participant/982258?share_type=clipboard