No, I'm not jumping out from behind the coach and yelling. But I am trying to raise money and materials for kids who won't have them.

The new school year is about to start, and the average school supply list looks something like this:

backpacks
6 durable pocket folders
clip boards
4oz bottles of white glue
2 small glue sticks
4 large glue sticks
scissors
larger yet still school appropriate scissors
2 or 3 or6 Spiral notebooks—wide ruled, plain solid covers, 70pp
24-pack crayon boxes
colored pencil sets
sets wide markers
sets fine point markers
black fine tipped markers (not sharpies)
2 boxes of pencil top erasers
boxes of baby wipes or other disinfectant wipes
large boxes of kleenex
Ziploc bags—sandwich, quart, and gallon size
#2 pencils
wide ruled looseleaf paper, large packs
1" 3 ring binder
12" ruler, metric and English
Post-its, small
Post-its, regular
Soft eraser
Dry erase marker
Index cards
Calculator
2 blue or black ball point pens
thin tip red marking pen or pencil
black and white composition book
colored hardcover composition book

It can be daunting to buy that for just one kid, and even more so if you have multiple kids in school. Some people can do it with no problem, but for others, it can be next to impossible. There are kids who come to school with no supplies, or very few supplies, or have no replacements once they run out. Sometimes teachers try to help by buying things out of their own pocket. Sometimes the school has extra. And sometimes, other people step in. That is what my friend Steve and I are trying to do.

We are trying to get together enough school supplies to outfit about 30 kids--15 each at our respective neighborhood elementary schools. School starts in September, so we have just about a month to get it together. If all goes well, we may formalize and expand our operations.

If you would like to contribute, either money to make purchases or by donating an item from the list, please contact me. (Please make sure that donated items are new, unused, and as described on the list. Also, as cool as folders and notebooks with pictures can be, please select plain covers, so that any child may use them.)