| From the outside, its a normal warehouse. But inside, its a veritable store with style. A rainbow of obsolete phone cords (30,000 in all) coiled in brightly painted barrels...240,000 outdated ice cream containers tower neatly above.and countless half-sized pencils are carefully displayed in colorful bins. These are only a few of the many items that delight teachers when they come to shop at Crayons to Computers (C2C).
The innovative resource center is stocked fully with new and used school supplies available at no cost to greater Cincinnati teachers to take back to their classrooms and students. All materials are donated by individuals and businesses, literally making up everything imaginable from crayons to computers.
The teachers "free store" is the result of a project of Leadership Cincinnati. It opened its doors in February, 1997, to 22 schools, and by June, 1999, teachers from 110 of the areas neediest schools were shopping four afternoons a week. To date, nearly $3 million worth of goods have been taken back to classrooms.
C2C organizers learned of the concept of reusing discarded items and placing them into the hands of needy children from an operation established in 1995 in Richmond, Virginia. Organizers picked up on the national survey conducted in Minnesota that said school teachers spend more than $500 of their personal money each year to buy basic supplies for their classrooms. Strained school budgets will not allocate adequate funds to cover these costs.
The architects of the project are Shannon Carter and Dick Bere. Carter, a former retailer, was a member of the Leadership Cincinnati group that founded C2C. While securing 6,000 s.f. of space in the warehouse of the FreeStore/FoodBank, Carter met Bere, then recently-retired president of The Kroger Company. Currently, the two volunteers work full time on the project while a staff of three oversees administration, operations, and volunteers.
Over 1,000 volunteers, mostly teachers, sort donations and restock the shelves daily. A team of volunteer technicians reconditioners the donated computers, of which C2C has been able to place over 2,200 in area classrooms.
C2Cs largest donor is Proctor & Gamble (P&G), a Cincinnati based manufacturer of many well-known household cleaning and personal care products. P&G delivers almost daily shipments of a variety of items, including notebooks, file folders, and promotional items. Another major donor, Gibson Greetings, recently sent eight truckloads of Godzilla gift bags, stickers, and cards to C2C. The Kroger Co. funneled new school items when it dismantled its "model store" in Cincinnati.
Approximately 50 programs across the country provide reusable materials to schools. However, C2C has instituted one unique aspect of its program to help them utilize the widest variety of materials a collaboration with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Inmates at several state prison facilities are transforming pallets of donated poster board into flashcards, and rolls of felt into chair covers with pockets (to hold students pencils and paper).
In December 1997, the Bureau of Community Service contacted C2C to ask them if they had any projects to reduce inmate idleness. Prisons are easier to manage if inmates have productive and rewarding work assignments.
At the time, C2C had a large amount of donated posterboard that didnt seem to move very rapidly with teachers because of the size and weight of the material. So the materials were sent to nearby Warren Correctional Institution where the prisoners cut and made flashcards for teachers to use in the classroom. The material was modified from a large, heavy sheet to a useful classroom item, and teachers flocked to C2C to get the flashcards.
The next cooperative project involved inmates making math, reading and spelling journals from donated paper and wallpaper books. Those too were quite popular with the teachers.
News of the successful education partnership between the prisons and C2C spread to other correctional facilities across Ohio. By the summer of 1998, wardens from twelve prisons had visited C2C to learn how their inmates could participate in the program.
The program has been dubbed "Crafts with Convictions". Ohio prisons now provide C2C with hand-sewn book totes and pocketed chair covers that hold students papers, pencils and scissors. The donated fabrics come mostly from decorators who deemed them obsolete. Hundreds of Geo boards are made from donated lumber scraps, and thousands of math manipulatives (math teaching tools) are created from reused plastic notebook dividers.
Now Paper Liquidators, a local donor, delivers truckloads of product to the Lebanon Correctional Institution. When inmates aren't busy making temporary license plates, they sort, cut, and shrink-wrap bundles of colored paper. Next door at Warren Correctional Institution, prisoners cut the alphabet, numbers, and hundreds of shapes from roller die cutters and package them for teachers. These are bookmarks, ready-to-go art projects and classroom decorations all made entirely from reusable paper.
As with other donors, C2C asks teachers and their students to write thank-you notes to the prisoners. C2C learned that inmates line up at mail call to receive the notes. By knowing that their time is well spent helping children and teachers in needy schools, the inmates self-esteem improves.
C2C has assisted other organizations is starting up similar programs (including Disney's Gift for Teaching, highlighted in ReDOs Spring 1999 Newsletter); is working with the Ohio Reusable Resources Network to create a statewide network of reusable education resources; and recently received the Presidents Points of Light Award and National Association for Community Leadership Distinguished Leadership Award. |
