Ministry & Missions

Joplin Campaign: Teacher Supply Drive

The Joplin Campaign is alive and ready for donations. Originally, we were going to collect school supplies, but in talking with people helping in Joplin, including Wendy from Learning Resources, who has been a phenomenal resource of information, we’ve discovered that teacher resources are very much needed. Wendy gave me the following info:

They do not need student supplies, textbooks or technology. Also, I believe that much of their furniture will likely be replaced by insurance, so they will not need those kinds of donations. However, here is a list of items they do need:

Educational toys
Learning games–board games, card games, electronic games–you name it
Learning or therapy tools/toys for children with special needs
Pocket charts
Teacher resources for classroom management, organization, & storage (timers, scheduling charts, plastic bins/milk crates)
Art, music & PE supplies, tools, etc.
Classroom decorations (posters, bulletin boards, signs)
Science models, general lab supplies, science kits
Math kits, manipulatives
Reading kits, manipulatives
Readers, books for libraries & individual classroom libraries
Dictionaries
Social studies & history materials
Small teacher resource “idea” books & student activity books

They’ve requested NEW rather than used donations. (There’s a stronger chance that they’d have to “pitch” some of the used donations, and there are already big problems with so much trash/debris in the area.)

Joplin Schools includes grades K-12. They need things for nearly all grades, but are especially short on things for the high school level.

I’m also waiting for contact info for the principal of the Catholic school in Joplin that was also flattened. It’s a private school with few resources, so I’m sure they could also use the extra help. They lost 13 complete classrooms–maybe even a day care/preK level too (not sure). I will hopefully have more info about that soon.

I was hoping to deliver donations around the 21 of July, but I know that is just probably way too soon, in terms of gathering items together and organizing everything. (I’m also considering the fact that the MamaBuzz Roadtrip is coming up soon). I’m thinking that we could possibly run this campaign until mid-August; we could probably deliver supplies by the 26th of August.

If you have questions about this campaign….if you’d like to organize a donation drive to this cause….please email me, info@mamabzz.com. I’m very excited to get this off the ground and running. Joplin teachers need our help, and this is something we can do to pay it forward to both teachers and students by supplying these basic supplies that are so desperately needed.

Let’s Help Joplin Schools & Homeschool Families

This morning I woke up and like every other day, I started in on my work….mornings usually find me writing my heart out while the house is still quiet. Today, though, as I go about my usual activities, my work, and take care of my children, there are families in Joplin, not more than 40 minutes away, who are suffering devastating losses due to the horrible EF5 tornado that ripped through on Sunday.

Knowing that our neighbors down the road are suffering, I put it in my mind to do something and this morning had a lightbulb moment. We all know that the schools have just been devastated by this tornado. Not only are the schools destroyed, but there have been reports that they are still searching for many missing faculty and students. They are determined still to have school start back up in August. I’m not sure if any homeschool families were affected by the tornado, but I’m sure there were with the scope and breadth of the destruction this storm caused.

You might ask me why I’m focusing on school supplies? Because this is an expense that’s going to sneak up on these families all too soon….and I’d like to at least take that burden away from them if possible. The schools will need to rebuild for now, but they are going to need supplies; the teachers will most likely need to replenish everything they had.

Knowing all of this, I’ve decided to start a campaign to help gather school supplies, office supplies, arts & crafts supplies, backpacks, teacher bags, books, lunchboxes, etc., for these students and their families, teachers, and homeschool families. If you would like to help, you can email me at info@mamabzz.com, or you can tweet me @mamabzz. I’m hoping that you will buy supplies and ship them to me. Then, hopefully, I can gather a few local bloggers or church friends who will help me put the bags or packages together for these families. My family and I will personally deliver everything to Joplin, since it’s just down the road.

If you are a company and would like to donate supplies, you can email me at info@mamabzz.com, or tweet me @mamabzz.

I’d love for you to also spread the word about this to all your readers and followers. Together, we can make a difference!