Whether your own kids or the kids in your area are still completing school from home, are going in person, or are doing a hybrid approach, school this year is certainly different due to the pandemic.

Disney, through its partnership with A Gift For Teaching, recently helped local teachers in Florida with the supplies they’ll need to welcome students back into their classrooms.

According to a press release shared by Disney, nearly 16,000 students will be returning to classrooms in Orange County, Florida this week. To help teachers prepare for this new wave of students and ensure that they have the supplies needed to promote health and safety in their classrooms, Walt Disney World teamed up with A Gift For Teaching to donate much needed supplies.

Disney recently donated nearly 5,000 reusable bags, nearly 8,000 lanyards for students to hold their masks, and 43 pallets of various merchandise items to be used as classroom incentives and prizes. All of these items help A Gift for Teaching’s curbside supply pickup.

Tatiana Ancora-Brown, Director of External Affairs for Walt Disney World Resort said “This school year looks nothing like we could have ever expected with new school supply requirements for teachers and students.” Ancora-Brown noted that “Students now need lanyards to hold their masks, and water bottles when they can’t use the water fountains.”

A Gift For Teaching was also in need of reusable bags for their curbside school supply pick-up for teachers. So, to meet all of the unique supply needs for this school year, Walt Disney World Resort also “donated more than 100,000 reusable bags, as well as other essential school supplies such as backpacks, water bottles, and backpacks to organizations across Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Lake Counties.”

A Gift For Teaching traditionally operates a free store where eligible teachers can come and shop for the supplies to be given to kids in need in their classrooms.

This year, however, Jane Thompson, President of A Gift For Teaching said they modified their setup so they could have a curbside model in order to “reach the most teachers possible because if [they] had kept the store open, [they] would have to limit the number of teachers who could visit at any one time.” Teachers can now place their supply order online and have a contactless pickup experience.

Thompson said the teachers have been so thankful that A Gift For Teaching has recognized the need for supplies and helped fill that.

Thompson also noted that one of the things the organization is so grateful for is partnerships like the one they “have with Disney that have existed for two decades, where Disney as a partner has been there to just serve and deliver and support [the] organization and [their] mission of ensuring that every student has every supply that they need.”

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The post Disney World Donates School Supplies to Help Local Teachers first appeared on the disney food blog.