Program to donate supplies

With the new school year underway, stores like Wal-Mart, Staples, and Office Depot have their shelves stocked with school supplies. But for some parents, affording school supplies is a struggle. \nJudy Witt, a member of the rotary club, said in the past teachers in K-12 have dipped into their own pockets to aid parents in buying school supplies for students. But beginning in August 2004, students and teachers will have the necessary supplies without paying a cent.\nThe Bloomington Rotary Club and other area businesses have come together to create Teachers Warehouse, a free-of-charge retail store open to K-12 teachers in need of supplies for underprivileged students. \nThe program is designed for two school districts serving the Monroe Country area. Currently, nine schools are eligible to participate in Teachers Warehouse, but Witt said no districts or schools will be left out.\n"Other schools and teachers are doing volunteer work to earn shopping trips to the warehouse," Witt said. "We want to be able to reach into the seven surrounding counties so that no one is excluded from this program."\nWitt, who is also the director of production development for WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television stations, first learned about Teachers Warehouse when she heard about a similar program, "Crayons to Computers" which started in Cincinnati. WTIU station manager Phil Meyer worked under the initial starter of Crayons to Computers and came to Witt with the idea of Teachers Warehouse. Witt said she felt the program would be a good project for the Rotary club and got started.\n"Teachers Warehouse is a program for teachers where they come to shop for school supplies for children who can't afford the basic tools," Witt said. "The program is designed for teachers because the warehouse offers supplies they would otherwise have to pay for since the parents cannot."\nMany local organizations and businesses are participating in the organization of Teachers Warehouse by offering donations, collection bins and support.\n"IU Credit Union is the lead cash provider in donations to the Teachers Warehouse by contributing $10,000 in cash and WTIU has donated both cash and media support for the warehouse," Witt said.\nWFIU has also helped promote the warehouse by providing media opportunities such as publishing articles in its monthly publications. Other businesses, such as Staples and the Salvation Army, have also contributed to the Teachers Warehouse.\n"We have items on a monthly basis that we are able to donate to charities such as the Teachers Warehouse," Staples store manager Greg Hoke said.\nDonations range from small supplies such as pens and pencils to larger items such as furniture needed for classrooms. \nHoke said every month Teachers Warehouse will have a first look at what Staples has to offer for donations.\nThe Salvation Army has also helped in supplying donations to Teachers Warehouse as part of its Back-to-School distribution program for needy families.\n"We are setting up collection bins at different location sites," Major Steve Kohler of the Salvation Army said. "One of them being a stationed school bus at the College Mall, and collecting everything from notebook paper to backpacks."\nKohler said the Salvation Army will designate summer as an annual collection time for Teachers Warehouse. Donations will be distributed to the warehouse a week before school starts.\n-- Contact staff writer Katie Killebrew at kpkilleb@indiana.edu.