Nashville, TN – December 20, 2022 – The semester came to an exciting end for more than 550 Metro educators when PENCIL (Public Education Needs Community Involvement & Leadership) hosted two giveaways from Dec. 12-16 at its warehouse located at 7199 Cockrill Bend Drive. An unexpected shipment of two tractor trailer
loads of goods from the Kids in Need Foundation (KINF) and the generous donation of new books from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation made this possible.
The first giveaway was the distribution of almost $450,000 in products that are not normally carried in PENCIL’s DG PENCIL Box supply store. MNPS teachers had access to classroom and household items, student incentives, electronics, and more. During the mass book distribution educators chose from among 110,000 books suitable for the earliest readers to young adults.
“As an organization that nurtures more than 800 business and community partnerships supporting public schools citywide and distributes at least $3 million dollars’ worth of free classroom supplies to Metro educators each year, PENCIL is uniquely positioned to host these giveaways,” shares CEO, Angie Adams. “We have the space, relationships, staff, and reputation to carry out events of this scale on short notice.”
This isn’t the first time PENCIL has held an impromptu event like this. Recently, a giveaway from the first truckload of goods from KINF was overwhelmingly popular with the 300 teachers who were the first to sign up.
“We are really adept at providing our teachers with core school supplies,” says Joel Wright, Director of the DG PENCIL Box. “This is a fun and easy way to thank them for their service.”
The DG PENCIL Box is PENCIL’s free teacher supply store to distribute high-quality educational materials and school supplies to all MNPS teachers. The store is stocked solely by generous donations from national brands, the Nashville community, and our PENCIL Partners.
Community members can get involved or volunteer by visiting PENCIL’s website at www.PENCILForSchools.org PENCIL is also accepting tax-deductible donations (online or by mail at 7199 Cockrill Bend Blvd., Nashville, TN 37209) to ensure that teachers can access fresh core supplies in January when school resumes.
PENCIL WELCOMES FIRST CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
