Donating Teaching Materials & Supplies

Archived Q&A and Reviews

May 2013

Hello! I have been a public school teacher for 5 years, and I am getting rid of everything in order to move abroad and teach at an international school. I'm so overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have! Does anyone know of a place where I can donate the good stuff? I know about Creative Reuse and those places, but I'm looking for somewhere that caters specifically to teachers- I know firsthand how expensive it can be to buy teaching supplies when you're starting out. Thanks so much for any suggestions! Too much good stuff

I know of two organizations that distribute re-used supplies to teachers, depending on your location. SCRAP is in SF: www.scrap-sf.org. RAFT is in San Jose: www.raft.net.

I don't have personal experience with SCRAP, but some years back when my office relocated, I shipped a bunch of our extra office supplies to RAFT and they were very appreciative.

Thanks so much for thinking about helping out other teachers with your extra stuff! Marie

Oct 2004

I work in a Berkeley public elementary school and I am cleaning out our bookroom. Does anyone know of someone - institution, charter school, home school, artist, or whatever - who is interested in old school materials? There is everything from math workbooks to teachers' manuals to readers to class literature sets that need to be recycled or reused. Of course, we prefer anyone who will pick up, but any advice is appreciated. Teachers are notorious packrats and we are up to our ears! anon

http://wishlist.craigslist.org/
anon

There are several homeschooling groups in the East Bay. I'm sure many families would be interested in the materials you have to donate. I am an Alameda County Contact for the Homeschooling Association of California. If you wish to set up a time for people to come pickup materials and send me the information, I can forward that information to the various groups. Lucy

April 2004

Does anyone know if there is a place to donate old teaching supplies/materials? I think there used to be a place in Berkeley. Cleaning Closets

I'm pretty sure Craigslist has an area seeking donations to schools. It's called Teachers' Wishlists. bezbob

Perhaps East Bay Depot Center for Creative Reuse will fit the bill? good luck

I suggest you check out Kapnek Trust. They have a website: jfkapnektrust.org. It is run by a pediatrician. They are doing wonderful things to help out the orphaned children in Zimbabwe, like building schools and training the local women to be doctors. Plus many of the family members are stepping in to care for their neices, nephews, granchildren, etc.

In addition to educating the children, the schools provide time for their care-givers to earn money, bring food etc. Contact me if you want me to include your donation in the next delivery and you will get a tax letter in return. 100% of your donation goes to the cause. heath