For 10 years, Staples has been helping to ‘Stock the Lockers’ at School District 70 schools—raising around $8,000 per year.
This year, however, despite the highest number of silent auction items, donations have been slow to come in, Staples manager Nicole Mitchell said.
She’s hoping a late run before the Sept. 7 cutoff will bring them back up to what they usually raise.
“Each year we try and raise as much money as we can for students of the Alberni Valley who can’t afford the supplies they need to be successful in the school year,” Mitchell said.
Over the past 10 years that has translated into $60,000 in school supplies—none of the money raised stays with Staples, she added: Staples gives the district the supplies at or below their cost, so they don’t make a profit from the fundraising.
The public can bid on silent auction items or donate cash at the till. Staples collects the money then lets Barb Witte at the school board office know how much was raised, so Witte can assemble a shopping list.
“We talk to Barb to see if there are specific needs—anything from the basics like pens and pencils to this year there’s been a request for calculators,” Mitchell said.
Once the items are collected, they’re delivered to the board office where Witte and her team divide the supplies among schools.
“It’s usually two, six-foot-high pallets full each year,” Mitchell said. Donations to Stock the Lockers can be made in the store.
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