Children are grateful for shoes and learning supplies that allow them to attend school.
Nelson Mandela said education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.
That’s why we want all children to have the opportunity to go to school.
Last summer Friends of Cozumel helped more than 500 students from families in need begin or continue their education from kindergarten through university. But it’s not as easy as you might think to send a child to school on the island.
Each student must supply their own personal learning materials from a very specific list from their school. The athletic shoes, school uniform, backpack, paper, notebooks, folders, pencils and pens, erasers, sharpener, ruler, calculator, crayons, highlighters and markers, scissors, correction fluid and geometry sets will cost some families a week or even a month’s salary.
Supplies donated by an Oklahoma couple who came ashore from their cruise.
Multiply that by the number of children in the family and a difficult situation becomes an impossible one for families with limited resources. In fact, some families have to choose which of their children to send to school when they can’t afford supplies for all.
That’s where you, and Friends of Cozumel can help.
Mission week volunteers recently took inventory of the school supply donations collected throughout the year for the July 2019 school supply distribution to families. Unfortunately, the news wasn’t all good.
We’re making progress, but we still need large quantities of several items if we’re going to support as many children this year as last. Want to help? Below is a list of the most needed items.
Kristin takes inventory and says “Help! We need more yellow highlighters.”
- Backpacks (200 large, 200 small)
- Black pens (600)
- Blue pens (500)
- Red pens (200)
- Jumbo 8-10 count crayons (40)
- Scissors (180 pointed)
- Erasers (250 white if possible)
- Dry erase markers (300 black)
- Highlighters (120 yellow)
- Basic calculators (130)
- Scientific calculators (190)
- Spanish/English dictionaries (165)
New athletic shoes, especially white ones, are also needed in these U.S. sizes.
- Girl’s: 10-13 and 1-2
- Women’s: 5 and 8-9 and 12-13
- Boy’s: 10-13 and 1-4
- Men’s: 5-6 and 8
Gracias, amigos. Your help is so appreciated.
You can help change the world, one pencil at a time. Well, actually, we’re good on pencils for now. But if you can contribute any of the other needed supplies, you’ll be supporting an island child who desperately wants to attend school. Drop off a backpack of supplies the next time you cruise to Cozumel. Or contact us for other options. We’re happy to help you help others.
Contact Larry at Friends of Cozumel: PEDERSENLL@HOTMAIL.COM. Thanks for your help.
~ Phyllis from Nebraska