STUDENTS IN NEED OF HEADPHONES

Previous Campaigns

Sep 24

Due to Covid-19, most students across the country have started the first day of school, remotely. Last semester, we were all thrown into distance learning on zoom and it was a definitely knew and challenging experience. We knew that it was especially difficult for children and families who do not have access to wifi, have multiple siblings or relatives home, and little to no work space. So Moréa, our co-founder, decided to reach out to one of her previous teacher, Ms. Gojanovic, a 5th grade teacher at Denker Ave. School in Gardena, CA.

Moréa asked how we could help and what they needed most. She expressed that headphones were the most needed item. It is tough for kids living in small apartments with no physical or quiet space to be on zoom or do their homework. It can also be very noisy from other siblings or family members also on zoom at the same time. Having headphones are really helpful to create a better environment for intimate learning and concentration. It is also easier for the teachers and the rest of the class, as it is less distracting when there are no irritating background noises and unnecessary disruptions.

It was also important that we showed love to this school as they are a Title I school which means more than a majority of the school qualifies for free or reduced priced lunch and are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged, and so they get additional federal funding to support their student achievement.

This is a screenshot of the California Dashboard from the CA Department of Education that lists the demographics of the school’s population.

“76.4% of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, that should give you an idea of the average household income. In public education you know when you hear Title I, that the population has a lower than average household income. Lunch is priced at $3.00 a meal x 5 days a week = $15.00 a week, and 76.4% of our students cannot afford that luxury.” - Maricar Catalan, Categorical Program Adviser/Targeted Student Population Program Adviser/EL Designee, Denker ES

On August 10th, we officially launched the campaign, asking our community for new or lightly used headphones or $10 to purchase a brand new pair.

Our first goal was only to serve Ms. Gojanovic’s 5th grade homeroom class of 30 students, but in less than 24 hours we were able to triple that number.

So, we decided to raise our goal to serve the entire 5th grade, a total of 127 students! Again, our supporters showed up and showed out! In addition to monetary donations, An amazing donor from San Francisco donated 120 headphones! Enough for the entire 5th and 4th grade class.

With less than a week till we planned on distributing, we upped our goal one more time! We raised our goal to now serve 119 more students, the entire 3rd grade class. In two days, we collected enough money to do just that.

5 trips to target, over 75 donors, $1,775 raised, and 361 students with a new pair of headphones.

We want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone that donated and shared our flyers and to the Community Loving team and volunteers. These headphones were truly from the community to the community!! We may have organized this, but y’all made it happen!!

We distributed the headphones on September 14-16 via socially distanced drive thru pick up at the school. Seeing the kids so happy with their new headphones melts our hearts!! We are so happy they love them! We also want to make a BIIIG shoutout to the teachers at Denker!! They are all so sweet and clearly show how much they love they’re students!!