St. Augustine, Fla. – September 20, 2022 – The St. Johns County Education Foundation, Inc. which operates as Investing in Kids (INK!), announced it has received a generous donation of $28,452.42 from Publix Super Markets, Inc. to benefit the nonprofit’s Tools 4 Schools program. Barry Rickelman, Publix District Manager, along with representatives from the management teams at local Publix retails stores recently presented Donna Lueders, INK! Executive Director and staff members with the charitable contribution.
“We are pleased to support INK! and thank our local retail teams in their efforts to inspire donations for our Tools For Back To School campaign. For seven years, INK! has been a beneficiary of this program in St. Johns County to ensure teachers and students receive the necessary tools required for a successful school year,” said Chris Norberg, Community Relations Manager for Publix Super Markets, Inc., Jacksonville Division. “We are grateful to the many Publix customers around St. Johns County who contributed to this year’s campaign.”
According to Lueders, on average, local teachers spend more than $800 of their own money purchasing school supplies for students and the classroom. The purpose of the Tools 4 Schools program is to minimize expenses for educators and provide the classroom supplies necessary for success in the classroom with a goal of serving approximately 3,000 teachers and 50,000 students countywide.
“During the 2021-2022 school year, the Tools 4 Schools program reported a record number of teacher requests from every public school in St. Johns County,” said James Wheeler, INK! Operations and Student Programs Director. “INK! volunteers and staff delivered close to 1,400 school supply orders with a total value of more than $100,000 to teachers across the county.”
“We are so appreciative of this donation from Publix and Publix customers in support of INK!’s Tools 4 Schools program,” said Lueders. “This donation will fund the purchase of much needed educational supplies for teachers and students in St. Johns County classrooms.”
The St. Johns County Education Foundation, Inc., which operates as Investing in Kids (INK!), promotes academic success for all St. Johns County public school students by providing innovative programs, teacher support, and classroom resources to support approximately 50,000 students and 3,000 teachers. The St. Johns County Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 education foundation, with offices located at 1 Christopher St. in St. Augustine. For more information, contact Donna Lueders at Do***********@st*****.us or 904-547-7120. Visit the website at www.ink-stjohns.org.
