Time to shop for Schoolhouse Supplies

On Saturday, we got a letter in the mail from Rieke Elementary. My big girl is heading off to kindergarten in September, and we found out the name of her teacher, and received the list of supplies we need to purchase for the first day of school. It reminded me of my friend Shannon who took her own eldest daughter's supply list to Target right before starting kindergarten and broke down crying in the aisles, wondering, how did my baby grow up so fast? It's exactly the kind of thing I would do. I know it. Although I am thrilled that my oldest seems very ready, and we're all so excited to be going to Rieke, I can picture myself having a meltdown trying to figure out how big a big gluestick really is, while pondering the big questions of the universe: how did this girl who was born at 6 lbs. 9 oz. wind up so smart and funny and ready to join the learning world?

So I'm going to let Schoolhouse Supplies do the shopping for me. You may remember we visited the Schoolhouse Supplies non-profit store last spring. In case you don't know, this organization provides basic school supplies to kids who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford them. They also supply teachers so they don't need to supplement their classrooms out of their own pockets. All of this is free to the teachers and students, provided by donations and office surplus from corporations and individuals.

On August 1, Schoolhouse Supplies kicks off it's annual supply drive. Since they started (by a mom, go figure!!), they have served 130 schools, distributed over 1.3 million pencils (among other supplies) and goods totaling over $8 million.

So keep this generous organization in mind while you're shopping for school supplies for your kids this year. Columbia Sportswear, Fred Meyer, Adidas, PGE, Tazo Tea and many other local businesses will host supply drives. If your circumstances permit, buy a few extra of the supplies on your list, and donate them to Schoolhouse Supplies.

Another way to help is by purchasing your list of supplies as a package through Schoolhouse Supplies. Participating schools are:

• Ainsworth
• Alameda
• Bridlemile
• Laurelhurst
• Rieke
• Stephenson

When you purchase your supplies from them, a portion goes to this wonderful non-profit. And then you don't have to wonder if you got the right size glue or crayons. And you don't have to meltdown in the aisles while your daughter goes "Mommy, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying? It's just crayons."

Comments

[Marianne]

I can't believe we have to start thinking about school supplies already! Seems like we just started summer vacation. Thanks for the info about Schoolhouse Supplies.

[Anne Austin]

Thanks for posting about Schoolhouse Supplies Online! If anyone has any questions about this program or the organization in general, please feel free to contact me directly (anne@schoolhousesupplies.org).

I hope to see folks at our Supply Drive Kick-Off Party downtown on August 1st! Check out our website for more info.

[Heather]

I was so happy when I found out we could get the whole kit and kaboodle from Schoolhouse Supplies. It's a fantastic organization, which I'm thrilled to support, plus I don't have to run around and do all the shopping. Rather, I can spend my time fretting about my baby going off to kindergarten and obsess about all of these creepy age spots that have appeared on the back of my right hand.

[Renee]

If you are thining of ordering your supplies from the online store, act quickly. The deal is available until August 17. I ordered our supplies package a few days ago, and it was easy-schmeezy.