Free 2 Teach

It was an joyful and powerful moment today to serve our very first teacher from Limestone County!!! Athens City Schools?Middle School teacher Mallory Etheridge from?Athens Middle School?left with $1,480.50 in high quality resources for her students, including 125 books!!! “I was elated!!! When I learned that we were able to shop at Free 2 Teach, I was elated,” she shared. “Teachers need stuff! We need stuff to help our students grow and have a great, enriched educational experience. I have small children at home and no extra money for these additional supplies. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.” Thank you to everyone who made this moment possible. Thank you to our amazing staff team, our volunteers and board, and our generous supporters and friends. Your efforts mean we can reach more children and more teachers with supplies, resources, and love. Excited for all that is ahead!? ?

500 RUNNERS!!! We did it, team! We are so excited to have 500 (and counting!!) runners registered for this weekend's 10th Annual Paper Chase 5K Presented by the EZBO Foundation! We are so thankful for all of you and for our amazing team of sponsors. Every step makes a difference to our teachers and their students, and we are SO excited to see you this Saturday at 8am downtown! ONLINE REGISTRATION closes TOMORROW at 5pm: https://lnkd.in/g8k-RTQS (you can still register in person at Packet Pickup at Fleet Feet in Jones Valley anytime from 10am-7pm on Friday or on race day until 7:40!) Thank you to our Presenting Sponsors, the EZBO Foundation! Thank you to Fleet FeetHuntsville/Madison for your incredible support of our 5K!! Thank you to Laughlin Service Funeral Home and Crematory, THE SURGERY CENTER OF HUNTSVILLE, and FirstBank for your significant support as Gold Sponsors. Thank you First Horizon Bank and DynamicMSSP for joining as Silver Sponsors! Thank you to our team of Bronze Sponsors: Redstone Federal Credit Union, Invariant Corporation, Circle Property Management, (NAECU) North Alabama Educators Credit Union, Big Spring Counseling Cooperative, WLRH 89.3 FM/HD, Mag 7, Gulf Distribution, CDG, Piper and Leaf, Mix 96.9 WRSA-FM and the team from Constitution Village. Wow! THANK YOU!!

“Free 2 Learn is fantastic - it is a need that is often forgotten about and people don’t have awareness that some of our students come to school without feminine hygiene products. Thank you!” - Linda Vagnuoli (Mrs. V!)?

Over the past month, 316 teachers have left our store with an average of $550 in supplies and resources for their students and classrooms!! Thank you for investing $175,566.20 into our public schools in just the past three weeks! Each of you, our community of supporters and friends, are making a significant difference in our work together of ensuring that every child in our public schools has access to an excellent education.

Thank you to this team from TEKsystems for volunteering with us on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They got so much done at our warehouse to get us ready for the week ahead of serving teachers and their students.

We are serving teachers from across our community this evening, including Mrs. Baker: “I am an occupational therapist. Coming to Free 2 Teach is what funds all my activities. I serve 11 schools. You guys help me support 88 kids. This is huge. Thank you!” - Elissa Baker ??????

We received this letter and photos from Ingrid Murray after her shop last week. Thank you, Mrs. Murray, for this beautiful note, and for letting us share it with the wider Free 2 Teach team and family whose amazing support helps make moments like this possible for you and so many teachers: Dear Free 2 Teach Team, This morning I was reading my morning devotion and Free 2 Teach came to mind. My devotion was about being a blessing to others. Please know that you and your team and the Free 2 Teach organization are just that….a blessing. I had an unexpected car problem yesterday…..then again are they even ever expected? I dropped my car off at the dealers that morning. Later in the day I borrowed my husband’s truck and went for my scheduled shop at Free 2 Teach. During my check out time the car service dept called with the news. Over $700 for the required repair. I had to let that sink in a minute. I hung up the phone. I’m sure my face said it all. Then I heard my friendly Free 2 Teach check out person say, “and you saved $533 today. We are so glad you shopped with us today.” My frown turned upside down just then. Because of Free 2 Teach the $533 I saved from having to spend of my own money on classroom supplies could now go to my required car repair. Thank you Free 2 Teach for being a blessing each and every month. Please know what a difference Free 2 Teach has not only made to my students but to me as well. May you start your day knowing what a blessing you are. Ingrid Murray P. S. I’m such a visual person so I had to send pictures! This is my favorite thing I found at the shop!

Kimberley Loomis, the school librarian at Challenger Elementary, is one of our first shoppers of the year!!! 2025 is off to an amazing start!

These amazing young ladies, and 96 friends and moms, packed 600 Free 2 Learn feminine hygiene kits to support girls across our (their!) schools. We are so thankful for our partnership with the TikTokers from the National Charity League, Inc. Madison City, Alabama Chapter. These incredible young women voluntered their time and energy with F2T this year, and worked in teams during their holiday party to organize and pack these vital kits. Period Poverty is a real pressing issue across our schools. There are 17,095 middle and high girls in our three public school systems and studies show that one and four girls struggle to afford period products. There is also need in the upper elementary schools we serve. We hear from teachers every day the difference our Free 2 Learn feminine hygiene kits are making. These kits are discreet and teachers know how to get them to students in a way that doesn’t make them feel bad or embarrassed. Thank you NCL for coming alongside us this year in our work to support teachers and students. We are so proud of you!! Help support this program by hosting a Free 2 Learn feminine hygiene kit pack at your next group event! Everything you need to know is at https://lnkd.in/gJgsHYmt

A very special note we received this week: “I know it is probably a challenge to get teacher decorations, but I had a student decorate one of my classroom trees this year for me and he said it was his first time to have a tree and get to decorate it. Those are the memories that you help create! Thank you for all your hard work.” Mrs. Ingwersen, Lee High School. Thank you, thank you, thank you all, for supporting our teachers as they build classrooms full of joy and happy memories and moments for kids. ??????