Portland Teachers, Students and Volunteers Agree—Schoolhouse Supplies Rocks!

Inspiration strikes in the strangest of places sometimes. One day in 1999, Katie Gold was thumbing through a magazine in her children's dentist office when she came across an article about a store in Cincinnati offering free classroom supplies to teachers. A parent in the Portland Public School system, Gold imagined how great something similar would be for the teachers here. The thought was so exciting to her, she got right to work on assessing the need and figuring out how to make it happen.

Her research uncovered some astounding statistics. She found that nearly 20,000 of the district's 43,000 students fell at or below the poverty level, which meant that the $98 per child average for school supplies would pose a difficult challenge for many parents. Teachers, on average, spend $1200 of their own money to help supply their students with the tools they need, and with economic woes mounting, that number is rising. Gold saw this as her call to arms; a free store for teachers was exactly what Portland needed.

 Current digs at Madison High School in Portland's Roseway neighborhood.

Her well thought out plan was immediately well received, and her fledgling organization, Schoolhouse Supplies, found sponsorship in the Portland Schools Foundation (PSF). This was a boon for her; being a sponsored program meant that Schoolhouse Supplies would operate under the umbrella of the Portland School Foundation's 501(c)(3) and pay a percentage of their revenue for the use of PSF's tax ID number. Payroll services, benefits, and audits, that would normally be too expensive for a start up to afford on their own, were covered under the umbrella. Being affiliated with such an established and revered organization also gave them instant credibility, so asking for donations of surplus office supplies from corporations was a little easier. She also began to build a volunteer base to help organize and distribute donations. Portland Public Schools saw so much potential in the program that they offered free space to Schoolhouse Supplies—a classroom in the Whitaker School. By the following year, she found volunteers to donate 4,734 hours of their time, and found donors who offered $107,000 worth of supplies. A year later, with 6,047 volunteer hours, they were able to raise a million dollars worth of supplies, $4,000 of which came from proceeds from their first annual spelling bee fundraiser, run with partner, Wells Fargo Bank. They had also grown out of their classroom space, and were offered a bigger space in Madison High School. It was a basement area, quite unfinished, but they were also given a bit of money from the school for things like running water and phone lines.

Fast forward a mere seven years later, and Schoolhouse Supplies has raised $9.8 million dollars worth of donations, logged 45,000 volunteer hours, is now serving all 130 schools in the Portland Public School System (as well as some homeschoolers and charter schools), and the annual spelling bee brought in a whopping $190,000. They now have five full-time and one part-time employee. In 2006, Schoolhouse Supplies applied for and received a Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Award—a two year grant that not only gave them money to finish their space in Madison High School, but also, in addition to their efforts to raise money through programs and events, permitted them to achieve independent non-profit status. Being an independent non-profit organization will allow them to expand in ways they couldn't as a sponsored program. With this new status, they have appointed a Board of Directors and are no longer restricted to the mission of the Portland Schools Foundation which is to serve only Portland Public Schools. They've begun to serve areas outside of Portland, and hope to continue to grow their service area.

The programs that Schoolhouse Supplies offers have grown, too. In addition to the Free Store for Teachers, there is now a Tools for Schools program, an online store for families, and supply drives (the annual KGW drive is held during the month of August, through Labor Day). Schoolhouse Supplies does extensive research into the needs of teachers to determine the items they will ask for in the drives.

The Tools for Schools program enlists local companies to help provide high-need elementary schools (65% or more students qualify for Title 1 benefits) with backpacks filled with the supplies students will need during the year. Volunteers from participating companies not only fill the backpacks, but then hand-deliver them to the eager students. This program is as popular with the volunteers as it is with the students; volunteers fight for the chance to present the backpacks, for a chance to feel the unbridled gratitude of the children.

The Online Schoolhouse Supplies store is hoping to change the way families do their back-to-school shopping by ending the need to visit several stores to buy all of the needed items. Participating schools provide a list of the supplies requested by each teacher. Once ordered, the items will be delivered to the student's classroom on the first day. The more students that get their supplies delivered in this way the smaller the carbon footprint created—one bulk delivery means fewer cars involved in supply shopping. The online store also affords parents the opportunity to purchase a kit for a child in need at their children's school—Schoolhouse Supplies strives to ensure that every child, regardless of economic background, has the supplies they need waiting on their desk in September. Profits from the store benefit the Free Store for Teachers.

I sat down with Erin Olinghouse, the marketing manager of Schoolhouse Supplies. With an encyclopedic knowledge of their statistics, she rattles off the many accomplishments the organization has reached. When I comment on this, she laughs.

"We do a lot of measuring around here," she admits. "We have team ‘step back' meetings to reevaluate our mission—is it still relevant? Are we accomplishing what we set out to?" Each member writes on sticky notes the words they feel best describe what they do and why they do it. It is an exercise in making sure they are in alignment and have maintained their focus. She also adds that this exercise helps to remind them of just how far they've come. They create surveys, and often ask for honest feedback from volunteers, donors, teachers and parents.

"We strive to tailor our programs to the wants and needs of those involved."

She walks me around the site, which is impressively organized. She takes me to the warehouse section, where donated items are inventoried and sorted before being put out on the shelves of the free store.

"This is managed by the volunteers," she explains. "They have it down to a science. It's amazing." She tells me that they have an indispensable volunteer base, many of whom have been with Schoolhouse Supplies since its inception.

"We have a group of Boeing retirees, mostly in their 70's and 80's, who come every week with stories about the war, countries they've visited, lots of life lessons, and donuts!" She cannot stress the importance of the volunteers enough.

"They are our ambassadors, they make the entire organization work, and we cherish them," she says.

We round the corner and face my favorite part of the tour—a massive library. She tells me they receive an astounding 6,000 free books from Powell's Books each month. Retired teachers also regularly volunteer both books and curricula to help new teachers get started. Olinghouse tells me that the book shelves are virtually emptied by months end and ready to receive the new donations. Volunteers from Hands on Portland are in charge of the monthly "book sort" where they dive into the books, categorize them, and put them out on the shelves for teachers to browse through.

"You should come in when we open the store," she suggests. "It is amazing - there are teachers lined up out the door." She says that the average teacher walks away with about $250 worth of supplies for their classroom.

Schoolhouse Supplies has grown from a parents idea to help out struggling teachers into a host of inspiring programs that, every year, reaches more children in need. It is obvious from the popularity of the program that it does much for those who volunteer their time, money, supplies or a combination of the three.

"I think our mission resonates with many people," Olinghouse says. "There are so many ways to be a part, age and ability restrictions don't really get in the way." Olinghouse says that they are hopeful that they can help other communities start similar programs.

"We want to give every parent the piece of mind that their child will have the tools they need, and be excited about their education."

For more information about the many ways to get involved, please visit: www.schoolhousesupplies.org.