Helping our Schools

I don't know about you, but now that Bella's in first grade, I get bombarded every week with fundraising requests. There's the gift wrap, the grocery cards, the entertainment book, the sportswear, and soon the frozen cookie dough. I try and participate as much as I can, but after a while I start to wonder where it goes. I know it's public school, but I see flat screen TVs in the classrooms and we seem to be pretty lucky.

That's why I was so impressed by a clever charity which lets you donate directly to needy classrooms. It's called DonorsChoose.org. The concept is simple: teachers write up a proposal, it gets posted on the site, you choose which one you want to support and how much you want to give. You'll receive an email thank you from the teacher and you can see images of the classroom after the gift has been bestowed. You can see exactly where your money goes.

The projects are varied and range from the truly desperate to the very creative. Some of the New Jersey requests include:

• a music teacher who wants to give instruments to children who can't afford them, 
• a social studies teacher looking to give her students better US geography tools
  
• an urban elementary technology teacher asking for digital voice recorders to have his students record Podcasts
• a second grade teacher requesting an LCD projector to give her students group computer lessons

The Silicon Valley Moms Blogs sisterhood of sites is helping DonorsChoose.org this month to spread the word.  There's a little competition going on between the various types of blogs (crafting, mom, technology, etc...) to see who will raise more money for DonorsChoose.org.  So help us show the power of moms by clicking over and picking a project to donate $1, $5, or $50 dollars to.  I guarantee you'll find an inspirational request!