Past projects 2
I Just Need a Backpack
Funded Nov 11, 2023When I reached out to you, I was thinking about providing for those students who did not have a backpack to carry their school supplies. It was and still is a simple need, but it turned into a matter that walks the line between comedy and dignity. Students have come with beat up backpacks, literally hanging from a thread or two. There is the story of a backpack that survived an event of burnt up beans: a smell that seeps into your clothes, your hair, and your memory. There was the backpack that a cat saw as a sandbox. There was a backpack involved in a complicated soup incident.
Backpacks have gone to newcomers who have cherished their sparkly, new backpack. I know that in a couple of years it will hang by a thread or two, be used by a pet as a relief spot, will catch the smell of burnt beans or popcorn, or will be taken without permission by a sibling and get involved in a soup incident.
The impact of this project has been very personal and has touched individual students who have been able to keep thier dignity with a little sense of humor and the knowledge that their community has got their backs, and their backpacks.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Garcia Rada
Mice Are Not for Writing
Funded Feb 15, 2021Your generous donation of graphic tablets was very useful to my students during distant learning. It was particularly helpful to students who being new to technology, were used to using paper and pencil to practice Mathematics.
I was so impressed with how this helped my students, that I wrote another grant in order to have enough tablets for the whole class. This grant was fulfilled by another agency, but having had the opportunity to see the tablets in action was very useful to me.
Thank you so much for giving my students the opportunity to reinforce their hand to brain connections in the virtual environment. Now that we are back in the classroom, I will continue to use the tablets by offering them to those students who need them to enhance their learning.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Garcia Rada