The Ashland Schools Foundation plans to turn donated materials into classroom supplies through a new storefront where district teachers could shop at no cost.
About one-third of the foundation’s grant requests are for classroom materials and art supplies, co-executive director Erica Thompson said. Meanwhile, residents regularly contact the foundation offering unused paper, pencils and other supplies. The planned center would connect those donations with teachers who need them.
The foundation calls the project a creative redistribution center. Ashland School District teachers would use credits to get supplies for free, while the public could buy materials at discounted prices.
Thompson said the foundation regularly hears from people who want to help.
“We're getting phone calls pretty regularly from community members who are calling and saying, ‘Oh, I've got a closet full of paper’ or ‘I have this box of colored pencils that a classroom could use,’” she said.
Thompson said Ashland residents often have high-quality materials and tools they're not using.
“I truly believe that everything that our classrooms need to be doing creative projects likely already exists in homes around the area in the hands of people who'd be willing to donate it,” she said.
Materials could range from paper, staplers and pencils to paint, yarn and fabric.
Co-executive director Cheyenne Nichols said she hopes the center will meet teachers’ supply needs and allow the foundation to award more grants for educators’ other ideas.
The foundation has not finalized a location, but the storefront would be off school grounds. Plans call for volunteers and part-time staff to run the center, which would also offer art classes and workshops.
The center could eventually generate revenue for the foundation. The group might also use some of its grant funds to stock supplies.
The foundation plans to open the center near the end of the school year, when teachers clean out their classrooms and often have materials left over, giving teachers a place to donate those supplies.
“They know there's another classroom in the district that could use it, but they don't have a way of knowing exactly who needs it,” Thompson said.
