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Education Partnership Helps Give Teachers Much-Needed Assistance

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - School is still a few weeks away, but many teachers are already working on their classrooms to get ready for the new year. Many of them buy the supplies they need out of their own pockets so their students have the materials they need to learn.

Education Partnership Executive Director Justin Brown tells the "KDKA Morning News" that they assist teachers by giving them supplies free of charge.

"[It's] a warehouse and a distribution model, where we can collect funds and goods and put them in one central place for teachers to come and access them for their kids in their classrooms...Who better than a than a teacher who knows what these students really need?" Brown said.

The Education Partnership is in six counties in western Pennsylvania and 86 schools. Most are in economically depressed areas, where there isn't a strong tax base to get proper funding.

Brown says through partnerships with KDKA and Giant Eagle, more people are aware of the efforts of the Education Partnership and they have been able to grow.

"Fifty-four percent in our service outreach, so over 32,000 students are being served by the Education Partnership," he said.

One of the teachers who benefits from the Education Partnership's Crayons for Kids campaign is Lyana Tennon, founder of the Virtuous Academy in Duquesne.

Tennon says the Education Partnership, "is beyond important because we are a grassroots school where...Everything has be fundraised and we have to go out and write grants and get private donations...So, whenever Education Partnership blesses a school like Virtuous Academy with supplies and furniture, the money we do raise is now put into the children to provide remedial programs, more technology [and other programs]."

Coleen Pilarski is a first grade literacy teacher at Pittsburgh Phillips and says not every parent can afford to give their child the supplies they need.

"You can spend $100 a child on just school supplies...I have a family with five children in my school, you don't have $500 at the end of summer," Pilarski said.

Giant Eagle spokesman Dan Donovan says their fundraiser for the Education Partnership raised enough money to reach more than 50 percent more students.

"The customers are so so generous and that adds up $1 at a time. So, if you're at the register and you think maybe a dollar isn't enough, it absolutely is," he said.

From now until Sept. 7, you can donate a dollar or more to the Education Partnership's Crayons for Kids when you check out at your local Giant Eagle.

You can also go to www.TheEducationPartnership.org or you can text the word "Pencil" to 80888 to donate. Your donation will appear on your phone bill.

The Education Partnership operates on 5 cents for every dollar so they can serve the maximum amount of students.

Listen to the "KDKA Morning News" with Larry Richert and John Shumway weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA.

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