Don't Let Another Child End Up Stoopid Like Me

The amazing Back To School sales going on right now at the warehouse office supply stores make it easy and inexpensive to help out students in need!

Too many kids go back to school each year without the tools they need to excel in the classroom. This is unnecessary - and easy to fix.

So how can you get involved? Glad you asked! Following are a few organizations that could use your gift.

C.A.S.A. - Court Appointed Special Advocates together with its state and local members, is to support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes. School supplies donated to C.A.S.A. enable their advocates to share with the children they are paired with. For more information on a branch in your area, click here

Foster an A+ by contributing to a local Sleep Train location's school supply drive to benefit children that are part of the California Foster Care system. You can visit their site and find by going here

I Love Schools is an online program aimed at matching classrooms with the people who can help them get the school supplies they need. Read through teachers' wish lists to see if there are any school supplies you are willing to donate. You may also post a "donor offer" and let teachers contact you if they are interested in the items you would like to give. You can find out more here

Want to go international with your donation? Awesome! Here are a couple of ideas.

Operation Iraqi Children does amazing work for the Children of Iraq. They have ongoing needs for school supplies. For an outline of what they need and how you can pitch in, please visit there site here

Have you read or heard of the amazing book Three Cups of Tea? The Central Asia Institute was born out of Greg Mortenson's incredible work in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They continue to aid central Asia in educating it's youth. To find out how you can help them, please click here

Operation Action Packed! sends small toys and school supplies to our deployed troops so that they may share them with the children they encounter incountry. You can visit OAP's site by clickinr here OAP also ships reserve supplies to an organization in Afghanistan, Women Of Hope, that aids Afghan women and their children rebuild. More can be found out about WOHP at there site here

Just want to keep it super simple? That's easy -- simply shop till you drop and take a quick drive over to your favorite school (one in a low income district will probably be able to make even more of an impact with your generosity). In most cases, you can drop off your donation at the main office and the supplies will be distributed to those most in need.

Typical supply needs include:

* lined paper
* pens and pencils
* rulers
* erasers
* highlighters
* dry-erase markers
* overhead projector transparency sheets
* overhead projector markers
* paperclips
* binders
* report covers
* staples and a stapler
* construction paper
* glue sticks
* markers
* tape
* art supplies (for elementary and art classes)
* text and reference books

Many of these items are less than a dollar each right now! Dollar stores are always a great place to shop for school supplies as well.

There are many ways you can help a student.

We don't need any more tit-a-whirl operators over here at Daniellaland, so I hope this has inspired you to reach out through an organization that shares your vision.

You can make a difference for these kids!

Thank you,

DL