ORLANDO, Fla. – “A single mom, I’m an educator for Orange County Public Schools living from paycheck to paycheck,” said Janice Redding.
Redding, a teacher and single mother of two, says rising prices have made it harder to keep up with everyday needs — and she’s not alone. During our interview, I helped with her kids, holding her little girl as Redding opened up about the reality many Central Florida families are facing.
“Food, supplies, things to make sure your hygiene is good, cost of living, necessities for living — the cost of everything has gone up and it’s extremely hard nowadays,” Redding said.
That’s why the nonprofit A Gift For Teaching has spent decades providing free school supplies to teachers and students.
“An unfortunate fact is that more than 50% of students show up for the first day of school without the essential school supplies,” said Chad McClellan with A Gift For Teaching.
On Wednesday in Washington Shores, A Gift For Teaching handed out close to 600 backpacks for children in need. Back in June, volunteers packed about 30,000 backpacks to help make sure kids across Orange and Osceola counties have what they need on day one.
“They show up without loose leaf paper. They don’t have pencils. They don’t have the dry erasers for the boards. They don’t have notebooks — all these things that they need to succeed,” McClellan said. “All those essentials are in their bag now, so when they show up it’s at least taking the burden off those families, those students and teachers because as you know, teachers will come out of pocket for their students.”
And many of those teachers — like Redding — need help themselves.
“You’re just doing the best that you can,” Redding said.
She says sometimes “doing your best” means being vulnerable and accepting help when it’s offered.
A Gift For Teaching says it will continue handing out the rest of the tens of thousands of backpacks across 120 schools in Orange and Osceola counties.