Arrowhead United Way Donates $95,000 Worth of School Supplies

Arrowhead United Way recently donated 279 Yoobi Classroom packs, valued at over $95,000, to K-3 classrooms across San Bernardino City Unified School District. Yoobi, pronounced “you-be”, a Target-exclusive line of school supplies that launched in 2015, donates an item to a Yoobi Classroom pack for every Yoobi item purchased in the store. These classroom packs contain the most fundamental tools needed for learning and creativity, including pencils, glue sticks, erasers, folders, pencils, crayons and more. Students at Mildred Dalton Henry Elementary School were the first to receive their box of goodies. Henry Elementary is an AVID school which seeks to challenge their students academically and instill in them a higher level of success. As part of the school culture, students are referred to as "scholars" and not "students." Receiving a classroom pack “means that our scholars have access to tools and resources that they are going to need to be successful in the classroom,” said Dr. Funchess, school principal. Not only did Yoobi perk up the school supplies aisle, but Yoobi’s mission is to help solve the issue of children not having enough school supplies to be successful in school. Studies show that today, one in four children in the Inland Empire are living in poverty and do not have the necessary school supplies to be successful in school. As a result of these types of statistics, 99.5 percent of all teachers buy essential classroom materials out of their own pocket, which is equivalent to approximately $485 a year (per teacher) and $1.6 billion a year for all teachers combined. “The donations are representative of the high value that our community places on education. These donations speak volumes,” said Dr. Marsden, the SBCUSD Superintendent. “New backpacks and school supplies get children excited about learning, and when children realize that the community is behind them, they’re more hopeful about their future.” “Arrowhead United Way is happy to be able to distribute these school supplies to our community as an effort to support the educational advancement of our youth. We are proud of our partnerships with our local schools,” stated Doug Rowand, President of Arrowhead United Way.