For those that do not know, Treasures 4 Teachers (T4T) is a 501c3 charity that works with teachers to provide them with classroom materials that they can, and do, use for the students.
 
Teachers become members by paying a $35 fee and that gives them access to a 3,000-square-foot warehouse at 3025 S. 48th Street, #102 in Tempe. A large number of items are free to the teachers, such as the toilet paper tubes and business-supplied items that The Tempe Downtown club provided T4T with a $500 grant to be used for enrolling new teachers and paying the first year fee.
 
 
 
Treasures 4 Teachers is a joint project between the Crossroads club and our Tempe Downtown club. Last year, the Downtown club volunteered to both work at the T4T warehouse and to collect items for the teachers. At first, we volunteered once per quarter, but as more members of both clubs expressed interest in helping, we changed that to once per month. So now we have an established date of the third Saturday of each month from 9:45 a.m. to noon. 

The jobs that we do range from making journals for writing exercises, stamping out figures for the journals, stuffing pillowcases and trimming toilet paper and paper towel rolls to be used by the students in art projects. The Crossroads club members, being younger and more energetic, help restock shelves and process large donations of materials that come from the business community.   
 
T4T also operates "electronics recycling" where they accept any old, broken, outdated equipment. They sell these items to a firm that retrieves the metals for use in new equipment. Also part of the operation is a thrift shop that is on site. In fact, the thrift shop has been touted on "neighborhood" websites so others can post the need for donations to classroom teachers on those sites as well.
 
The community response has been very good and now non-Rotary members are collecting and offering donations as well.
 
If there are any other clubs that would like to get involved, they can contact Rhoda Waisel at rwaisel@cox.net, the Tempe Downtown club coordinator for T4T, or Barbra Blaylock at the T4T website.

Fred Chalfin, Tempe Downtown Rotary Club.