DonorsChoose.org

http://www.donorschoose.org

So, I was on the website Kiva, and feeling really good because I put some money up for a micro loan. Afterwards, though, I was talking to Pene and she told me about the Donors Choose website. The website not having been endorsed by TIME, Oprah, and the Today Show, I had not heard of it.

Basically, it's a website where American teachers can come and ask for donations to buy things needed for their classrooms. I saw lots of different things; one school wants basketballs for their Varsity basketball team. Another wants help buying footballs and pads for their team. One wants yarn and looms to let the kids weave hats, but the most heartbreaking one for me was a 1st grade teacher who wants a set of leveled reading books so that her low-income kids (apparently she has too many students to work with them one-on-one) can check them out and practice reading at home.

It was a real eye-opener for me. I realized how very blessed I was in my education. I had plenty of books to check out and read at all the schools I ever went to. During PE, we had at least 20 - 25 basketballs to play with (every three months or so when we did), and Small Brother obviously has football pads and more than one football floating around the house. It really made me realize that even here, in the United States of America, we have poverty and need.

So, go check out the Donors Choose website, please. Donate if you want, but I think everyone should at least look at what some of our schools are in need of. Hopefully, it will help you, like it did me, be grateful for your blessings.