New friend for teachers of low-income children

Tyrone Walker
The Post and Courier

Amy Buckley locks the door of Teachers' Supply Closet, a new nonprofit in West Ashley that will give teachers free classroom supplies year-round.

A new nonprofit will give school supplies to Charleston County teachers who work with low-income children.

The Teachers' Supply Closet will be a place where teachers can go supply shopping for free, the first year-round resource center of its kind in the Lowcountry and possibly the state. While some organizations do annual back-to-school supply drives, the Teachers' Supply Closet will stay open to teachers all year, with operating hours that fit teachers' schedules.

The group plans to open its store in November in West Ashley and initially will be open to teachers at six high-poverty Charleston County elementary schools: Sanders-Clyde, Wilmot J. Fraser, Chicora, Mary Ford, Malcolm C. Hursey and Matilda F. Dunston. Most students at those schools are considered low- income. Organizers hope to serve teachers throughout the county and beyond as they build their finances and school supply reserves.

Amy Buckley got the idea two years ago to start the free supply store after a friend told her about a similar program in Oregon that was featured on NBC's "The Today Show." Buckley, who doesn't have kids in the school district and isn't from the area, couldn't stop thinking about it and decided to contact the Oregon resource center for more information. She can't explain why she pursued the idea, other than that she has "a real special place in my heart for children in need."

Her path eventually led her to the Kids in Need Foundation, a national nonprofit started by the School, Home and Office Products Association to get materials to those who teach needy children. The group has 23 affiliated sites nationwide, and the Charleston group plans to affiliate with them after operating for a year.

The national organization wants to nurture more sites so that every state has at least one, said Penny Hawk, managing director of the foundation. School budgets don't cover much of what's needed in classrooms, and some students' families can't afford meals, much less school supplies, she said.

"We're trying to alleviate the burden on teachers," Hawk said.

The local effort has built momentum, slowly picking up support from across the community. Organizers found a donated space to house their retail store, and they've started collecting school supplies. All that Buckley asks is that teachers who use the store volunteer to help it later.

Teachers receive a $275 stipend from the state, but that money doesn't go far, Buckley said. Teachers often spend hundreds more in their classrooms, she said.

That was the case with Timothy McGraw, who will teach fourth grade at Hursey Elementary this year. He taught in New York last year and estimated spending $500 of his money buying materials as basic as construction paper. The Teachers' Supply Closet will be a relief for teachers and will simplify their lives, he said.

Hursey Elementary Principal LaDene Conroy said the nonprofit will be a gift to schools that will allow her to reroute money going to supplies to other needy areas. It's difficult for some parents to access transportation to buy the supplies their children need, and the Teachers' Supply Closet will provide students equitable opportunities to help them be successful, she said.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@post andcourier.com.