PHOENIX, AZ — During the Red for Ed movement last year, Mrs. Milich posted a picture of her paystub and it went viral. The second grade teacher from Whispering Wind Academy in North Phoenix says her post drew both positive and negative comments.
But one comment from a man in New York drew actionable change.
“We call him our New York friend,” says Mrs. Milich.
That friend is Ben Adam, a real estate businessman who says it was through Mrs. Milich's social media post where he realized just how underfunded Arizona schools are.
Ben Adam says, "I think that our priorities as a society and government are a little bit off. And not everything can be left to government to take care of and sometimes we as citizens need to take responsibility and pitch in."
So as the 2018-2019 school year was about to begin, Ben Adam asked Mrs. Milich to send him her 'wish list' of supplies, which included books, paint brushes, paper, colors, markers and pencils, just to name a few.
"My students are so cute they are like "I wanna tell that man, god bless you and I'm like me too" said Mrs. Milich.
In December 2018, Ben Adam reached out to her again and once again, she responded with a list of items her classroom was lacking.
"I would never be able to go buy a whole set of chapter book s and yet now I can use these every year," she says.
"There’s 19 days of school left and to have this many supplies with 19 days left is literally unheard of," she adds.
Ben Adam’s generosity keeps growing. He started a website where he posts teacher's wish lists and the goal is for others to step forward and pitch in.
"Some people came out of the woodwork and bought the supplies directly to the classroom," added Adam.
You can go to Classroom Giving [classroomgiving.org] to help sponsor a classroom and send supplies directly to the school. If you are a teacher and would like your classroom supply wish list to be fulfilled, you can email: give@classroomgiving.org
