Reddit needs you to help teachers and classrooms in need

Reddit is more than just a place that users go to share articles and discuss politics and Kim Kardashian. The Reddit community can be very generous, not only with their time, but also their money.

Last year the community gave more than US$325 000 to help teachers set up their classrooms. This year Reddit is once again calling on its community to help teachers in need through its Gift Exchange programme.

According to the platform, the donations and care packages from the community “really do make a difference” so it’s hoping to replicate the success it had last year.

“Something as simple as a pack of glue sticks, a ream of printer paper, or a pack of pencils can make a huge difference in someone’s classroom,” said Reddit in a post. “You can check out some of our favorite ‘Thank You’ posts from teachers last year here. Join us today as we help teachers get the supplies they need to make their classrooms awesome and change the lives of children all around the world.”

How it works

Teachers from all over the world sign up on the platform with their various requests describing the type of school they are in and the supplies they need.

There are various request such as:

“I’m a new teacher at a low income school, and we’re given a pretty small amount to work with. I’m planning to use my whole budget to buy some class sets of books, but even with the amount they give me, it’s not going to be enough. Unlike many larger schools, we don’t have a library with class sets of books to check out.”

“Many of my students do not have a home to return to after school, so they often only eat the breakfast and lunch the school provides. I try to provide snacks throughout the year for the students to take with them for the night, but I always end up running out within a few months.”

“I teach in an inner city school and in order for my students to be successful they need pencils and notebooks. That is really all. I will have about 90 students but some of them can provide their own, others don’t.”

“I teach 20 very fun, happy children who love to learn. However, only $150 to budget an entire years[sic] worth of supplies has been difficult.”

Each teacher signs up and the Reddit team verifies their legitimacy and then pairs them up with a donor send a package to their school.

Reddit is encouraging its community to signup, there is no minimum or maximum amount to what donors can give just what they can afford. Once signup closes, each donor is paired with a teacher and they are given a deadline to ship their packages.

More than 9 000 teachers from mover 40 countries have signed up so far. The deadline to signup for teachers and donors is the morning of August 18th, all the details can be found here. Teachers help shape you we become and mold our minds, so its only fair that we help them out a little, n’est-ce pas?

H/T @merlotgirl