Give Update: September 2016
New York is home to the largest school district in the United States. Over one million students attend schools in the 5 boroughs. 76.5% of those students live in poverty. IWhat this means, is that for many families living in NY with children in school, parents are often forced to make impossible decisions between providing their kids with things like food and clothing, or educational supplies and support. Let’s be honest…educational supplies become an afterthought when your child is hungry. Sadly, this leads to a reality in which children often attend school without the essential learning tools they need to succeed, or teachers spending hundreds of dollars (if not more) per year on providing those supplies out of pocket, for their students. At Yoobi, we believe no parent should have to make decisions like that, and that teachers should not have to spend their own money on providing essential learning tools for their classrooms. Essential learning supplies should be a right for every kid, not a privilege for those few that can afford them.
Through Yoobi’s partnership with the Kids In Need Foundation (KINF), Yoobi has been supporting thousands of high-poverty classrooms in the 5 Boroughs since its launch in 2014. Last week however, Yoobi stepped it up a notch. Working closely with the United Teacher Federation, Yoobi identified elementary schools across all 5 Boroughs where at least 70% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Program. From there, the Yoobi team, lead by CEO and Co-Founder Ido Leffler, and joined by UFT’s President Michael Mulgrew and KINF’s Executive Director Dave Smith, arrived at PS 59 William Floyd Elementary in Brooklyn, NY to announce a donation of awesome Yoobi supplies to support 33,000 kids across all 5 Boroughs.
Following the announcement at the morning assembly, the teams gathered up and went to classrooms to kick off the big give and start handing out the first of 1100 Yoobi Classroom Packs that are set to be distributed to schools across the 5 Boroughs.
UFT President Mulgrew said of his experience with Yoobi, “Teachers are doing such hard work every day, and it’s so great to see that work recognized by the community and companies like Yoobi” Mulgrew went on to say that “Yoobi came in to celebrate the school and the great work teachers were doing. You can’t approach a community in a more respectful way.” Finally, Mulgrew added that “for the teachers, it’s not just about the supplies, but how they can use them to motivate the students as well. The value of that may be even greater than the supplies themselves.”
Part of what makes gives like this so special, is that they are made possible by thousands of people across the US, who have never met the kids they’ll impact, but despite that, still make the conscious choice to go with brand that gives back. It’s what turns shoppers into change-agents, and a diverse nation into a family of one. That might not mean much at first blush, but if you’re Roberto in Ms. K’s second grade class, it means the first pencil sharpener, set of markers and crayons he’s ever been able to call his own.
NYC Dept. of Education (http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/GraduationDropoutReports/default.htm)
