Backpacks and paper, and pencils, oh my! Over the past several months the Change for Kids office has received numerous cardboard boxes filled to the brim with school supplies. CFK staff members and interns can barely find a foothold amidst all the goodies: everything from cool new backpacks from GfK North America to personalized children’s books from our good friends at WNS. These basic classroom necessities – still with their tags and all their caps – recall the beginning of Change for Kids while hinting at its bright and exciting future.
Yay for school supplies!
CFK started in 1994 as a trust to provide school supplies to the students of P.S. 243. Since then, CFK has dramatically expanded its mission and reach, partnering with four NYC public elementary schools and supplying them with educational programs in fine arts, healthy living, and literacy. In fact, many of the donated school supplies will go to help not only teachers, but also volunteers who support CFK programs.
The markers, sticky glue, and construction paper will help tutors in CFK’s one-on-one literacy tutoring program make reading comprehension and vocabulary exercises fun for their students. The pens and notebooks will aid CFK’s Fordham volunteers in engaging their group of 5th graders to write headlines and articles for the school newspaper. Both of these volunteer programs have seen exponential growth during the past year, with the number of participants tripling since Fall 2010.
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