Walmart Funds Every West Virginia Teacher's Classroom Request on DonorsChoose.org

FAIRMONT, W.Va., Aug. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, more than 340 teachers across West Virginia received a back-to-school surprise as Walmart announced it had funded all of their classroom requests on the education crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose.org. The donation totaled over $260,000 and supported requests for items including books, classroom supplies such as notebooks and organizational tools, technology, robotics kits, art supplies, and more.

Bob Huggins, head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team and a Morgantown, W. Va., native, was on hand to deliver the good news at White Hall Elementary School in Fairmont. Coach Huggins visited Ms. Gouzd's first grade classroom, and personally delivered the school supplies she'd just had funded: tablets, colored pencils, printer ink, index cards, markers, books, storage bins, games, and other school supplies.

"I am always honored to support the dedicated teachers of West Virginia who go above and beyond each day for their students," said Coach Huggins. "The partnership between DonorsChoose.org and Walmart will help fulfill these teacher's wishes to start the school year off right in their classrooms."

The donation from Walmart is part of its commitment to use its strength to help West Virginia communities live better.

"All of us at Walmart want to give back to teachers who selflessly give their time and energy to make a difference in the lives of our children," said Tina Rodriguez, Walmart Regional General Manager for West Virginia. "Today we are proud to support DonorsChoose.org and provide West Virginia teachers with the supplies they need to help all children succeed."

"This support will help students across West Virginia start the school year with classroom resources to learn, explore, and grow," said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org. "We're so grateful for Walmart's support, and I know teachers throughout the state will be thrilled to learn about this surprise funding as they prepare for the year ahead."

Click here to view a list of projects that Walmart's donation supported.

ABOUT WALMART IN WEST VIRGINIA
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online and through their mobile devices. In West Virginia we serve customers at 44 retail units and online through Walmart Online Grocery, http://Walmart.com and our family of brands. We are proud to employ 11,749 associates in West Virginia. Walmart supports local businesses, spending $194 million with West Virginia suppliers in FYE 2019 and supporting 8,423 West Virginia supplier jobs. Walmart continues to be a leader in employment opportunity, sustainability, and corporate philanthropy. In FY 2018, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation contributed more than $11.7 million in cash and in-kind donations to local nonprofits in West Virginia and our West Virginia associates volunteered more than 4,900 hours with local causes. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting our corporate website and our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels.

ABOUT DONORSCHOOSE.ORG
DonorsChoose.org is the leading platform for giving to public schools. Teachers across America use the site to create projects requesting resources their students need, and donors give to the projects that inspire them. Since its founding by a Bronx teacher in 2000, more than 3.9 million people and partners have given $865 million to projects reaching 35 million students. Unique among education funding platforms, the DonorsChoose.org team vets each project request and ships resources directly to the school. Every donor receives photos of their project in action, thank-yous from the classroom, and a cost report showing how every dollar was spent. DonorsChoose.org was the first charity to make the top 10 on Fast Company's list of the Most Innovative Companies in the World.

SOURCE DonorsChoose.org