KANSAS CITY, Mo. — School is only a few weeks away for many districts, which means teachers are getting their classrooms ready.
That's why ScrapsKC is having its annual school supply giveaway.
"Sometimes our teachers need the simplest things, such as a pencil and other times, teachers want to provide extra material. So this allows them to do that without having to pay money for it," ScrapsKC Executive Director Brenda Mott said.
The organization is a creative reuse center where organizers repurpose donated supplies.
"At the end of every school year, we ask schools to donate supplies that they would otherwise throw away," Mott said.
This year, they received 8,000 pounds of donated items.
"Community and homeless volunteers come in and clean and repurpose all the materials, make sure every marker works, make sure every pen works, scrub names off things and we get prepared so that we can give it to teachers," Mott said.
Art teacher Emily Pfaff said she's found some pretty unique items for her classroom and students.
"So many things to repurpose, it's like a treasure hunt," Pfaff said.
"We're able to provide that to teachers who want to add a little pizzazz to their classroom or something unique for a classroom lesson," Mott said.
Pfaff said it's her seventh year teaching, and this giveaway allows her to be creative.
"They had some different, funky hole punches and stars and so there were so many different materials that the students don't always use, that was nice to pull out," Pfaff said.
In the three years the giveaway has existed, ScrapsKC has had roughly 24,000 pounds of supplies donated, which then go to teachers in need for the new school year, rather than the landfill.
"This is just filled with love and we are really excited for the teachers," Mott said. "It's our favorite day of the whole year."
Three-hundred teachers signed up for the two-day giveaway, which will help serve about 7,500 students this upcoming school year.
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