A Lincoln car dealership provided school supplies to 40 teachers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Recipients include teachers from Norristown, Malcolm, Waverly, and Lincoln schools.Â
A few weeks ago, Anderson Mazda of Lincoln announced on its Facebook page that it aimed to cross certain items off the wish lists of a few nearby teachers. Teachers jumped at the chance to comment on the post, which drew close to 200 responses.
Music teacher Amanda Rickert at Ruth Hill Elementary said, “I saw their initial post pop up, and they said the winner would be announced on the morning of July 31. Therefore, I waited for the post on Facebook early that morning in the hopes of being selected as one of the award winners.” Rickert’s perseverance paid off because she was one of 40 Lancaster County teachers who fulfilled some or all of their Amazon Wishlists.
Cortney Navarro of Anderson Mazda states, “This year, we realized most teachers’ needs aren’t met through regular supplies drive. But, by going through their list, we discovered things you would never think of.”
Anderson orchestrated the distribution of the supply funds to the successful teachers through the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools, LPS. The foundation makes use of crowdfunding and a resource called Fund a Need. It enables the foundation to consider the requirements of roughly 6,700 teachers with fundraising initiatives for their classrooms.
Additionally, LPS provides stipends for supplies and meets classroom requirements. Many instructors receive some support from the school system and foundations, but for additional needs, teachers will accept any community assistance they can to fill their classrooms. “It’s a more direct way to build that relationship between the schools and the community members,” foundation president Wendy Van said. “It assists us in our mission to raise awareness of the actual requirements of classrooms so that we can all work together to address them.”
Overall, the dealership assisted over 150 teachers across the state.
