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This all started by me being at the grocery store and finding these school supply box kits just lying in the clearance section. At that moment I thought what a waste just sitting there when there are kids all over that could benefit by having these supplies. I contacted the store manager and asked if though about donating them to local schools that could use them. His response was “no we don’t do that”.
I then asked if he would be able to lower the price any more because if he wouldn’t give them away, then I was going to purchase all of them and donate them myself. He stated “the price is as low as we can go and its against company policy to lower it any more”. I agreed if that is the policy then that’s it and I will have to handle this myself. The kits were originally $6.99ea and were now $4.19ea. Even at full price it was a good deal because each kit contained: 1 filler paper, 1 pencil holder, 10 pencils, 2 notebooks, 15 erasers, 3 glue sticks, 1 school glue, 1 pencil sharpener and 1 pack of 3×5 notecards.
They had approximately 100 of these kits just sitting there and started calculating and I had enough money to purchase 40 of them right away. I did just that, after returning home and telling my wife what I had experienced at my favorite local grocery store she also felt the same as I did. I then contacted the stores corporate office and still didn’t get anywhere and in the back of my head I couldn’t stop thinking about these kits just sitting there and not going to a great cause of helping children, and I couldn’t get anymore because it was another 22 weeks until I got paid again.
That’s when I decided I would start a Go Fund Me page and see what would happen.
https://www.gofundme.com/2bqgdp8k I instantly in 2 days received $125.00 in donations and got so excited that I could go get more of these school supplies and that’s what I did. I was able to purchase 10 more kits and I filled the back of my suv with tons of other supplies. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting 2 elementary schools here and see when I can deliver some of the items to them.
I have now contributed a total of $275.00 myself and $125.00 from donations and 100% will all go toward purchasing supplies for students here in Columbus Ohio and some of the areas around Franklin & Fairfield counties. I feel so good about this I want to see how far we can go with this. As we get farther into the school year I would also like to take some of the donation money and use it to pay off any students past due lunch accounts or just put money on their lunch accounts.
My wife and I didn’t grow up with a lot my father was killed when I was 3 and I ended up with an abusive stepfather. I then joined the military right after graduating from high school because I couldn’t afford to go to college and didn’t have any help with figuring out how to get started in life so I thought the military was the best option. My wife is the brains of our relationship and also had it rough growing up in a small town and coming from a broken home, she struggled with being so young and having to take on some of the responsibilities that only adults should have to worry about. She went on to college and paid for it all on her own while also raising her 2 sons. I am so proud of her and our children, 2 have finished college and the 3rd will be starting next year. I feel as though we have done a great job but the job isn’t done. I makes me sad knowing that there are children out there that aren’t as fortunate as we are (even though I didn’t think we were back then).
Just to think this all started from going to the grocery store and now I don’t want it to end. Together we all have so much more we can give. If you can’t afford a donation I totally understand but if would mean the world if you could help spread our cause and that doesn’t cost a thing. Thank You