Many teachers around the nation are forced to either dig into their own pockets to buy supplies for their classrooms or do without many of the necessary supplies throughout the course of a school year. A New York City-based organization called Materials for the Arts is trying to change that for teachers by providing them with free—yes, free!—school supplies now and throughout the remainder of the year. MFTA, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, has teamed up with the Department of Sanitation and Department of Education to give teachers access to the supplies, which are being stored at a gigantic 35,000-square-foot warehouse in Long Island.
Initially, the MFTA held a special Back-to-School Shopping Spree for teachers, which ran from August 29 through September 30. All teachers needed to do was make an appointment, and they would be able to walk through the MFTA warehouse and pick up everything from calculators and reams of paper to binders and even rolls of fabric. There were more than 40 aisles total that teachers could browse through during their time in the warehouse. But if you missed out on that event, there is still time to get your hands on free supplies if you are a New York City public school teacher. You will be able to pick up free supplies between through the end of the current school year whenever you need them.
The school supplies in the warehouse have been donated from a variety of sources. There are about 1.5 million pounds of materials in total, with companies like Poppin Office Supplies, Marc Jacobs, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and more chipping in to help teachers. It’s a fantastic way for teachers to ensure that they have the supplies they need to teach their students, and it sounds like the MFTA is going to continue to operate this warehouse for as long as they can.
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