How Five Dollars (and some change) Can Help

Yesterday, Refugee Elder Program friend Jen visited her local Target store to purchase some supplies to donate to our annual Summer Supply Drive.  I challenged her to see how far she could stretch just five dollars; since it's the back-to-school season, most stores are having some super sales!  For less than five dollars (including tax), this is what Jen purchased:

Six one-subject notebooks (a mere 15 cents each), a package of loose leaf paper (75 cents), two packages of 24-count pencils (94 cents each), and a simple pencil sharpener (69 cents)!

Of course, there are many more combinations of ways in which you can spend just five dollars and help the Elder Program: a package of Expo Dry Erase markers and two packages of paper, two packages of 24-count pencils and two binders, twenty-five notebooks and a package of 24-count pencils...the options are endless!  You could also spend all five of your dollars on something like this:

Trust me, the teachers' faces will light up with joy when they see a beautiful map of this size! 

Also, the Dollar Spot (where everything is...you guessed it- just a dollar) at Target during the back-to-school time is one of the greatest places to find some excellent supplemental teaching materials.  A few of our favourite ideas:

Basic English dictionaries.  These always come in handy!

Anything Dry Erase is great.  The elders can practice their writing over and over- without going through a stack of paper! 

We already have a few sets of these flash cards, but we could definitely use several more!  The elders really like using these, as do the teachers.

The Summer Supply Drive will continue through the end of August, but we'd love for you to donate the supplies as early as possible since the Elder Program returns next week!  Remember, you can drop off your donations at either the offices of Kentucky Refugee Ministries or Migration and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities during regular business hours.  Beginning in August, you can drop off your donations most Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am-12:00 pm at New Heights Baptist Church.

If you don't have time to shop, you can always either pick up a gift card to a store like Target, Walgreen's, the Parent Teacher Store, and the like...or you could simply click on the 'Donate Now' button on the sidebar to the right to make a monetary donation.

Jen wishes you all happy shopping for the Refugee Elder Program!