MANSFIELD — Local elementary schools have some extra funds to use for school supplies thanks to a fundraiser organized by School Specialty and United Way of Richland County.
The duo teamed to create a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com, which encouraged community members to work together to raise dollars for their neighborhood schools.
“School Specialty set up 28 different GoFundMe pages for every elementary school in the county and then everybody in the county and beyond was able to make a donation,” explained Dan Varn, executive director of United Way of Richland County.
At the conclusion of the campaign, School Specialty matched, dollar-for-dollar, each school’s community donations up to $1,000 in merchandise credit.
The community ended up raising $8,650. With School Specialty’s match, that brings the grand total to $17,300.
“We understand that the need is very great and that a lot of times teachers have to reach in their own pockets to meet those needs,” said Tim Dove, human resources manager for School Specialty. “There should be a way that not just the teachers and not just the parents, but the community at large can give money to the schools and that was kind of the vision of this program.”
Varn noted that schools now have some money on reserve to draw from when supplies run low.
The need for school supplies doesn’t wear off as the year goes on, Shelby City Schools Superintendent Tim Tarvin said.
“We’ve been blessed to have the community support to help us raise the amount of money that we raised,” said Nicole Lynch, teacher at Shelby St. Mary’s School.
She said teachers are already making lists of supplies they’d like to have, which could run the gamut of what you’d find in a School Specialty catalogue.
