From Where I See It

As Schools Count Corp continues to aid schools, largely within urban landscapes, I continue to find the general tone of the conversation about schools facing blight, poverty, and overcoming other obstacles resulting from hurricanes and earthquakes to be demeaning.  The dialogue goes something like this..."if they aren't performing, too bad."  Another refrain goes along the lines of..."why should we help them if they can't help themselves."  These are but just a few of the negative comments I hear about schools facing all sorts of hurdles.

Let me put it bluntly, our non-profit wouldn't help schools if we thought they were wasting our money.  We wouldn't take supplies to students if we thought they were abusing them or that they didn't make a difference.  Likewise, if we thought that schools were abusing the idea of getting free supplies by merely stockpiling them or asking for resources that weren't really needed then we'd exit in a heartbeat.

What I have found to be true is that students, teachers and administrators use our donated (free) supplies to maximum use.  I see no signs of waste in the schools we serve.  When the supplies are delivered they are put to immediate use.  And to a person, whether in Galveston, TX, New Orleans or Haiti, folks are truly, truly appreciative of what they receive.

No, a school in crisis doesn't need less, doesn't need to be shuttered and left for naught.  On the contrary we need to dig in and do more.  As long as we have the resources, volunteers and donors and the schools served use the supplies wisely then we will step up our efforts to do more, not less.

Many thanks for your assistance,
Dick Flesher