Local businesses, community partners and individuals support the Tools 4 School program by hosting supply drives, sponsoring collection locations, and donating supplies to fill St. Johns County classrooms with new school supplies July 25 through August 7, 2022.
St. Augustine, Fla. – July 26, 2022 – Investing in Kids (INK!) has launched the Tools 4 Schools classroom supply drive once again to support St. Johns County teachers and students through the 2022-2023 school year. Community and business collection drives are scheduled across the County coinciding with the Florida back-to-school tax-free holiday period from Monday, July 25 through Sunday, August 7 to prepare for the start of the school year on Wednesday, August 10.
Tools 4 Schools is a community-based classroom supply initiative that seeks to reduce the out-of-pocket expense for educators and ensure that both teachers and students have the tools they need to be successful in the classroom. To prepare for the school year, INK! and community partners host an annual countywide school supply drive in the summertime. Individuals, organizations, and businesses are encouraged to participate by becoming sponsors for drop-off locations, donating supplies, and volunteering to help sort and distribute materials to teachers.
According to Donna Lueders, INK! Executive Director, on average, local teachers spend more than $800 of their own money purchasing school supplies for students and the classroom. The purpose of Tools 4 Schools is to minimize expenses for educators with a goal of serving approximately 3,000 teachers and 48,000 students countywide.
Lueders added that at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, INK!’s Tools 4 School program reported record numbers of supplies delivered to teachers in every public school in St. Johns County. INK! filled and delivered nearly 1,400 teacher-requested orders of school supplies and materials with a total a value of $84,891.
The Tools 4 Schools program is made possible by annual donations from supporters including Publix, Staples, and The Bailey Group as well as local businesses that host collection drives including Ameris Bank, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, Community First Credit Union, Northrop Grumman, Solar Stik, SouthState Bank, the St. Johns County Tax Collector and VyStar Credit Union.
For over a decade, the Tools 4 Schools program has operated out of The Bailey Group Resource Depot, a permanent location donated by The Baily Group which provides storage for the supplies collected during the Tools 4 Schools summer drives and throughout the year. During the school year, teachers can order supplies online through the INK! website and orders are filled and delivered by INK! to their schools. For more information on Tools 4 Schools or to coordinate a community drive effort, contact Jim Wheeler at (904) 547-7121 or email james.wheeler@stjohns.k12.fl.us. For a complete list of businesses and community drive locations visit www.ink-stjohns.org/toolsdrive22/.
4 Ways you can help fill our classrooms with new supplies!
INK!’s Tools 4 Schools Community Supply Drive runs July 25 through August 7, 2022
1. Host a drive or a collection location for community members to drop off supplies
2. Shop our AmazonSmile Charity List here
3. Drop off new school supplies at these local St. Johns County businesses:
- Ameris Bank – Branch locations:
- 4070 US 1 South, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- 100 Southpark Blvd, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- 790 Ponce de Leon Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32084
- 2060 A1A Highway South, St. Augustine Beach, Fl 32080
- Ancient City Insurance – 2800 N 5th Street, Suite 301, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- BT Nutrition – 1972 US 1 South, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- Community First Credit Union – 3581 N Ponce de Leon Blvd., St. Augustine, FL
- Cowan Financial Group – 3275 US 1 South, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- David Weekly Homes locations:
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- Shearwater 60’ model – 35 Windley Drive, St. Augustine
- Shearwater 40’ model – 24 Ladson Ct, St. Augustine
- Shearwater Community HUB – 100 Kayak Way, St. Augustine
- Settler’s Landing Model – 276 Settlers Landing Drive, Ponte Vedra
- Oxford Model – 135 Oxbridge Way, St. Johns
- Kettering-Trailer – 10013 Element Road, Jacksonville-Off of Etown Parkway
- David Weekly Division Office – 680 Cross Water Parkway, Ponte Vedra
- DJ & Lindsey Real Estate – 731 A1A Beach Blvd., St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080
- Next Level Chiropractic – 3100 US 1 South, 4A, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- Rock IT Solutions –
- St. Johns County Tax Collector – 4030 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL
- VyStar Credit Union – Branch locations:
- 3970 A1A South, St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080
- 100 Village Lake Drive (Nocatee), Ponte Vedra, FL 32081
- 212 Ponte Vedra Park Drive, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
- 3654 N Ponce de Leon Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32084
- 165 SR 312 West, St. Augustine, FL 32086
- 849 Verona Way (Horton’s Corner), St. Johns, FL 32092
- 1955 CR 210 W, St. Johns, FL 32259
- 101 Bartram Oaks Walk, St. Johns, FL 32259
