I am a big fan of St. Louis nonprofit KidSmart, and first wrote about the organization in 2003. I am lucky enough to work for a company that supports the Push for Pencils effort. Standing Partnership is again partnering with KidSmart for this terrific campaign.

KidSmart is a store that provides school supplies including paper, pencils, crayons and other necessities to teachers in school districts where kids are largely underprivileged. If you’re a teacher you know it’s not uncommon to shell out your own dollars to help kids who don’t have the basics. KidSmart makes it easier for kids, teachers and schools to be successful.

It is a fact: there are more than 80,000 students in St. Louis who cannot afford basic school supplies. KidSmart is there to help and has provided more than $5 million in school supplies to kids since 2002.  

Here’s how you can help a child succeed in school this year: donate cash online, to help KidSmart stock and manage their operations or contribute to the Push for Pencils campaign by buying school supplies and dropping them at one of the many locations accepting them during the back-to-school season.

It’s such a simple thing, really — but you’d be making a huge difference in a child’s life.

Here’s what school kids need most:

• Pencils
• Crayons
• Markers
• Glue
• Fiskar scissors
• Supply boxes
• Spiral notebooks
• Loose leaf paper
• Backpacks
• 2-Pocket Folders
• Pens
• Erasers

Thanks in advance for your generosity. Tell them I sent you!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 7:19 am and is filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.