Demand for school supplies leads Kansas City nonprofit to switch operations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first day of Missouri’s 2023 Back to School Sales Tax Holiday weekend begins Friday, Aug. 4, during which all local and state sales tax are exempt from qualifying back-to-school purchases for Missouri families.

The sales-tax-free weekend comes at a time when school supply spending is expected to reach a record high. In fact, the National Retail Federation estimates back-to-school spending will cost the average American family around $890. It’s an expense that teachers in the Kansas City area say a lot of families can’t afford.

“Since COVID, we’ve seen a lot of families struggling to come up with extra cash for things like school supplies at the beginning of the year, and it can be embarrassing for families and for students,” said Jenna Socha, a kindergarten teacher in the Independence School District.

Socha is one of the thousands of teachers who take advantage of Scraps KC to make ends meet. The nonprofit is a school supply store, where qualifying teachers can turn to and obtain donated school or office supplies that have been gently used. Due to the increase in need, the nonprofit changed their operations so teachers can take advantage of their resource center year-round.

“We see a lot of children who live in transient households and the last thing they’ll take with them is their classroom supplies, so teachers have to constantly be giving those materials out to students,” said the executive director of Scraps KC, Brenda Mott. “So, rather than the teachers reaching into their pocket, we want them to be able to have the supplies that they need. Most teachers spend on average $745 every year for school supplies.” 

Mott says tens of thousands of pounds of school supplies are donated to her organization every year. Some of the most recent donated items are coming from companies and organizations that have transitioned to remote work and are no longer in need of their office supplies. 

“We’re always looking for corporate clean outs, we have a lot of teachers,” Mott said. “We’re always looking for corporate clean outs because businesses are more and more remote or hybrid and they don’t need all the supplies that they have, and we have thousands of teachers in our community who could use all of those supplies to support their classrooms.” 

Teachers who take advantage of Scraps KC say some of the most high-demand items they need are easily consumable items like crayons.

“It is very common for crayons to go and for markers to go. We run out of tissue paper and tissues almost every year, but also we have kids that come to school without anything in their backpacks, without anything to prepare for the school year,” said Socha.

Socha estimates she spends hundreds of dollars of her own money to keep her supply closet stocked, a similar trend seen by teachers in surrounding districts, like Laure Pixler, a second grade teacher in Liberty, Missouri.

“With the economy getting tighter and with parents having to work, trying to put food on the table and school supplies is becoming more difficult and the prices of school supplies has risen,” said Pixler.

If you’re a teacher in the Kansas City-metro area and would like to take advantage of Scraps KC, applications can be found on its website.

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