Dealership granting teachers’ wishes

By Kendra Simpson

A few St. Joseph teachers won’t have to worry about purchasing school supplies this year thanks to a local car dealership.

Anderson Auto Group will randomly fulfill teachers’ Amazon wish lists through a posting on its Facebook page this week.

Teachers take days, if not weeks, to prepare their classrooms, but that’s not all they will be spending. According to the National Education Association, 90% of teachers will spend up to $800 out of their own pockets on school supplies for their classrooms and students.

“You typically see the back-to-school drives for kids but you don’t see a lot for the teachers,” said Rachael Miner, marketing coordinator and customer relations for Anderson Auto. “I think everybody knows teachers spend a lot of their time and money making their classrooms welcoming, so we wanted to give back to our community and the teachers seem like a perfect way to do it.

Anderson Ford will be fulfilling teachers’ Amazon wish lists on Wednesday, July 24. All educators have to do to be considered is comment on their list on a Facebook post.

It’s all part of the dealership’s ”Because People Matter” program. After the success of the operation last year, Anderson decided to hold the teacher giveaway again in 2024.

”Any fulfillment of the wish list is really exciting because it helps us a lot,” St. Joseph School District teacher Kali Maloney said. “The school gives us everything we need and we can do a good job teaching but the extra stuff like on our wish lists are all things that make teaching more fun and makes the kids have more fun. So when we get them fulfilled … it makes our whole year go a lot smoother.”

To be considered, teachers must be located in St. Joseph or within 40 miles of the dealership, share what grade and school they teach at and provide a link for their Amazon wish list on the post, which will be up Wednesday morning on the dealership’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AndersonFordOfStJoseph.